LETS FLY!

I hadn't visited my sister in Arizona since she'd lived there. and let's be real--

who likes to be in rexburg in the dead of winter?

NOT ME!!!
so i searched and searched for a cheap ticket and off we went!!! Gracie LOVED the airplane. She was a typical 2 year old. she didn't want to have to put her buckle on. so that was fun. she loved looking out the window and kept saying "clouds mom! they're by my face!"

 i thought she was the cutest thing with her little backpack and blankie and beanie.

We had a BLAST. went and saw temple lights, went to the zoo, laughed our head off until tears were coming out of everywhere, did some hair tutorials, played at the park like zoo animals, ate chocolate the size of our brains, talked, laughed, we just had so much fun!!! So glad we made the trip happen.

I went to the store with these 2 and constantly got asked left and right if they were twins. so naturally i said yes. so glad i was able to visit AZ while my sis was there!

Just a normal day...

                                                       Just some normal pictures for ya

LOVE HER.

Halloween shenanigans

I love any excuse I can get to get out of the house. I'm not a homebody. i've never been a homebody and I don't think I ever will be a homebody. haha. If you ask tanner he doesn't love that about me. but too bad.

We took gracie to a pumpkin patch and she ate it up!

can't you tell?

she wasn't so sure about the creepy scarecrows who have hay for hair. 

she did however LOVE the sucker tree!!!

they had this adorable little house for kids to play on!

for halloween I asked gracie multiple times what she wanted to be and she never had an answer. haha! so my friend was giving away this adorable witch costume so I got her excited and let her pick her faceprint.

this pic is my fave. it captures her personality way too well.

this girl always has to have dad by her side.

We went trick or treating at the drive-in and watched a movie afterwards. i think she liked it what do you think? 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

oh yeah we can't forget about starsky and his devil costume. 

POTTY TRAINING....

So far in motherhood, potty training was the event that brought out all my true colors. LOL. let's just say that no one prepares you for this moment.

I've never seen so much pee, poop, wipes, and had so much emotion in all my life. here's some pics so you can embark on this super fun journey with me. HAHA.

 We tried getting a little seat insert to go on the big toilet but she seemed to be scared to poop. scared of heights maybe? haha.

There came a time when I'd just plop her on her portable toilet and make her sit there with her juice. haha.

Whenever she'd be on the toilet she loved looking at herself in the mirror. that was a must every time.

There were so many ideas out there on the best way to potty train, effective ways to potty train, etc. it was pretty overwhelming soooo i just came up with my own thing. Gracie loved stickers at the time so I found this handy dandy coloring book at target, folded it over and used the back side for her chart. it worked like a charm! she got so excited to put a sticker on her chart and to see the progress she made in a short amount of time! She did really well going potty in the toilet. Poop? HOLY HANNAH. We tried everything. I ended up buying 3 different toilets. she was so scared to sit on the big one, i think she felt like she was falling? who knows. so i bought the portable one. that didn't work either. it took about 2 weeks for her to understand the poop concept. I remember the first time she pooped in her portable potty i actually cried tears of joy. hahaha!! So when she'd poop in the toilet I'd give her an M&M. no better way to bribe than with candy right? lol.

for about 2 weeks she had poop accidents in her pants frequently. we tried everything. nothing worked. turns out she had super hard poops. still does to this day. haha. our last resort was giving her a cold shower. I didn't have the guts to do it, but tanner gave her 2 cold showers for pooping in her pants, and after the 2nd cold shower.

BOOM.

MIRCALE.

NO MORE POOP IN PANTS.

MOM IS FREE.

HAHAHAHA.

I hated resorting to that but we'd just stick her in the shower with her clothes on and turn on luke warm water for about 10 seconds. It was enough to make her not want to poop in her pants ever again.

HAHA.

phew glad that's overwith!

No one warns you about the smell. no one warns you you'll have to stay in your house for weeks. no one warns you about how you'll feel like a crazy person. BUT look at the look on her face. She was so proud of herself. and I'm a proud mom. i love her so much. 

I've put up with him for how many years?

6!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA. Tanner and I always joke about how on earth we've put up with each other for this long. I guess opposites attract is a real thing. and with us...it is definitely real.

We were able to get away for our 6th year anniversary just us.
SO NEEDED. pedicures were a MUST. except if you ask tanner, he will never get one of those again. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. the asian guy cut his cuticle and then kept rubbing it to massage it.
LOL ask tanner all about it. he's got a lot to say.

We enjoyed a couple days just us. No gracie girl, no stress (WISHFUL THINKING HAHA) just me and my boo. It was nice to get away from the normal every day stresses and just grow closer together as a couple.

how the heck am i old enough to be married 6 years?

We've been through some crazy things together but we always come out on top. It may take a while to get there, but we eventually get there. I love him, and I love us.