It's Finished!

Our front yard is finally finished and what a relief. Everything went according to plan and we love it. I didn't think it was going to be such a big job. I feel like it makes our house more like home.

Before

After

Who Knew?

Who knew potty training would be so easy. I've only heard bad things about it and was not looking forward to going through that with Lincoln. We decided with the baby coming that we would wait until after Logan was born to start potty training Lincoln. We thought it would be best to get into a routine with Logan first and then start the daunting task of potty training. Well unbeknownst to us Lincoln had other plans. On August 1st, Lincoln came and told me that he needed to go pee pee and started pointing at the bathroom. I asked him if he wanted to go potty on the big boy toilet and his face lit up as he yelled, "ya!!" So we ran into the bathroom and I put him on the toilet. What do you know...he actually went potty! This process happened several more times throughout the day. We decided that since he was wanting to use the bathroom it was probably best to encourage it instead of make him wait and train on our time frame. We went out later and got a Lightning McQueen potty training seat and he loves it. He knows exactly what to do. We've even had a successful #2. He still goes in his diaper most of the time but for the most part when he actually tells us he needs to go, he actually goes. The funny thing is that I thought I would have to bribe him with treats but that hasn't even really been the case. We've given him treats as a reward for telling us but most of the time he could care less about the treat. He just wants to flush the toilet when he's done...I guess that's good enough for him. I know we're not there yet and there's still a long way to go before we're out of diapers but considering the fact that he doesn't even speak in sentences yet but he has come this far with potty training, I am stoked!

Neither picture is really good because he was done and he wanted to get down to flush the toilet. We didn't think of taking a picture until afterward.

Just Being a Boy

I've been taking random fun pictures of Lincoln this last month. Most of them aren't planned so they are taken with my phone which is why the quality isn't the best but it still captures his personality.

He loves music and he loves playing instruments. I think for being 22 months he holds the guitar quite well.

Climbing and wearing daddy's motorcycle gloves...what could be better that that?

Maybe he will take after daddy and have an eye for great photos.

He likes to hang out in Logan's room. We will often catch him in there either on this chair or in Logan's swing.

Who needs bath toys when you can just play with all the bottles of shampoos, shaving cream and conditioners?

He is big into dipping sauces right now. If there is something he won't eat, we just put ketchup, ranch or bbq sauce on his plate and the food seems to disappear.

We're Almost There

Our front yard landscaping has been a big project for us since we moved in. We had to have our design submitted to the HOA within 30 days of purchasing our home. By the time that we came up with the design that we wanted, got a couple of bids, got the HOA approval and finally was able to have the landscaper start the work, it's been about a month. It was really fun to come up with the design and see it become a reality You'd like to think that the final product will always look like what you've pictured but we know that's not always the case. Luckily, for us, each step of the way has gone exactly how we wanted it to and it's shaped up to be the yard we had in mind. We're not quite finished yet. The landscaper is coming back this week with a few plants for the backyard, more rocks for the front yard, he has to seal our pavers, and paint the retaining wall to match the color of the house. In a couple of weeks the turf company will be out to install the fake grass around the palms in the big planter boxes and possibly the backyard. We may wait to finish the backyard until after Logan is born - we're still deciding. I will post more pictures of our yard once it's complete.

Before we moved in.

Backyard before the work started

It took a total or four days and three guys working to get most of the work finished. I never would have guessed that it was so involved.

Again, mostly done but not quite complete.

Fake grass will be laid in the areas around the palm trees. Rock will go in the section closest to the house, the wall will be painted to match the house and rock will be laid in the section down by the sidewalk.

The main portion of the backyard will be grass but we will have some plants along the back wall. Also, we painted the wall an accent color of the house. I was amazed at how much that alone has done for the yard. It was originally just the raw blocks but now it looks so much nicer. My queen palm looks tiny now but give it some time and it'll be big and beautiful!

Micah's Wedding Takes Us Back to Idaho

Who would have thought that just five weeks after we move out of Pocatello that we would be returning for Micah's wedding. Kolissa is from Pocatello and most of her family still lives there. They had a really nice wedding and everything seemed to go according to plan! They both were very happy and made a cute bride and groom. Believe it or not the weather was actually nice for their wedding day. Of course, the nice weather didn't last long and it was back to rain the day after the wedding.

We drove up and on our way stopped in Vegas. Lincoln loves the lights and I think he likes people watching as much as Rick and I do. We got upgraded to a really nice room at the Luxor, which was really nice, and unfortunately we were only staying one night and it was a quick turn around. While Lincoln and I were coming out of the M&M store, getting on the elevator on the fourth floor, a lady and a two men got on with us. The second I saw her I knew she was famous but I couldn't think of her name or why she was famous. The entire time she just kept talking about how cute Lincoln was, how beautiful his eyes were, how pretty his skin was, what a cute smile he had...I'm not kidding...she went though it all. She loved him. As we exited the elevator Lincoln blew her a kiss. I immediately walked over to Rick to tell him of our experience. Because I couldn't think of her name I just described her as a body type and personality similar to Dolly Parton except that she had a thick Spanish accent. It was driving me crazy that I couldn't remember her name. I later called Dana who quickly said, "Oh, that's Charo." Of course it was! The second she said her name I knew it was right. It was such a relief to finally have figured it out. More importantly...why the heck do Dana and I know who Charo is? Anyway, we do and I think it will be fun to tell Lincoln one day about how she adored him. I found out that she has a new show in Vegas which I'm assuming is why she is there.

Anyway, once we were in Pocatello it was nice to know our way around and to stay at a familiar place with Grandma and Grandpa Tutu. Lincoln was excited to see them and Freckles, the kitty cat. We got to see all of the work that has gone into Tutu's new house and Lincoln got to play on grandpa's tractor!

The triplets are now all married.

This is Charo. Now can you see why I described her like Dolly Parton!? By the way, she's a lot older now then she was in this picture.

Lincoln loved looking at all of the big Vegas buildings, especially the lions.

I'm not a fan of SpongeBob but Lincoln has seemed to enjoy the cartoon. It was fun for him to see this statue in the Excalibur lobby.

Papa (Rick's maternal grandfather) came to visit when we were in Idaho.