Potty Training

Zack has finally decided he's interested in using the toilet instead of diapers! It's kind of funny how we have been gently suggesting it for months and then one day he just starts asking to use the potty. We are so excited he decided he is ready. We would really love to only have one little kidling in diapers at a time. He caught on to going pee pee in the toilet pretty quick, but we have been struggling for number 2. I was doing some reading online to get some suggestions, but most of the posts were about making sure that your child isn't constipated. Now, anyone who has ever changed my son's diaper knows that that is the furthest from our concerns!
But there was some advice that we took to heart. We had already found something to use as a reward. A few months ago he lost one of his trains, Duncan. We could not find the train anywhere, we had torn apart his room, rearranged the furniture in the living room, to no avail. The thing was lost to us. Aaron found a replacement on ebay. We printed up a picture of Duncan and taped it to the bathroom wall. We then told Zack that when he used the potty for both number 1 and 2 we would get him a new Duncan. Just after we did this, we were looking for a dvd and happened to pull the cd player out of the entertainment center, and there in Zack's little homemade tunnel...was Duncan! We couldn't believe it, we just bought a new one, and there was the old one. This is still funny to me. Well, last Sunday Zack finally figured it out! He now has Duncan back and is happy, unfortunately we should have pushed for more consistency before we gave the train to him. Since that Sunday we can't get him to sit on the toilet long enough to do more than pee. So now the reward is Thomas big boy underwear. Let's hope for some consistency soon!

Racing

Amanda loves Mario Kart in all its forms. She is a bit competitive in it as well. A little something I'm sure she picked up coming from such a large family. Zack has now found great amusement in watching/playing it as well. Ruthann, Amanda's brother Joel's fiancee, recently purchased the new incarnation of this game for the Nintendo Wii. She and Amanda played it once and Amanda was hooked. We soon went out and got it, as well as some fun steering wheels. Being as interactive as the Wii is you can really drive. Amanda and Zack have logged a few hours playing it and Joel has come over to unlock things for Amanda to play as well. Amanda always has her favorite tracks that she likes to play on (I just think it's that ones that she does really well at). Zack also has his favorite characters and tracks that he likes to "play" as well. So much so, that Amanda ends up disappointing him by choosing other tracks to race. He quickly gets over it and chooses to help Amanda race. It's loads of fun for the whole family, not to mention a lot of fun to watch.

Google Scavenger Hunt

I got this idea from my friend Mandy. You type in the answers from the survey on Google images and pick a picture from the first three pages. Try it!

First Name - Amanda
Actress Amanda Bynes








Middle Name/Maiden Name - Pace
Pace Picante Sauce





Last Name - Bates
Actress Kathy Bates










Age - 26
26" Widescreen








Favorite Vacation Spot - Disney Land







College Degree - Communications / Public Relations

Where I Grew Up - West Jordan, UT







Where I Live Right Now - Taylorsville, UT






Past Pet(s) - Link (Beagle)







First Job - Fabric Store






Best Friend - Christina
Actress Christina Applegate








Favorite Color - Yellow







What Am I Doing Right Now - Listening to Guitar Hero

Going to the Movies

We as a family love movies. We used to go to the movie theater several times a week before Zack was born. But now with the cost of theater tickets and the lack of time we get to spend with Zack we just don't make it very often anymore. With the ones that we do go see we are very selective. Zack has found a passion for computer animated films, namely Disney-Pixar & Dreamworks films.

The most recent release from Disney-Pixar is movie about a little trash compactor named WALL·E. Now this movie did not do so well with the critics or even some of the audiences. So we decided to pass it up and wait for the DVD to come out. It's a lot cheaper that way.

Yesterday while Zack was home with Aaron, a commercial came on for a new movie called Igor. How it sparked an interest in Zack we still don't understand. He came up to Aaron and kept asking for WALL·E. So we decided what could it hurt to go to the movie for Family Home Evening.

I can tell you that this film is worth seeing. It was so cute! Zack was entranced by the movie, which is surprising due to the fact that he had gone with out a decent nap. He was able to stay awake for all but the last 15-20 minutes. He climbed onto Amanda's lap, sat and ate popcorn for a little bit and then drifted off. We all enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to anyone.

Chocolate Milk!!!!

As most any one knows, Zack loves chocolate milk, or as Amanda states "it's his crack." However this can get rather expensive with as much as he consumes. We tried powder formula but it didn't dissolve in his cup and it would clog the spout. Store bought chocolate milk is too expensive and we don't have enough room in our refrigerator to stock up on it. So then we moved to chocolate syrup. Again getting a little expensive for the good stuff. Then we found the perfect solution. We watched TV! Food Network specifically. You gotta love that channel.

One of our favorite and quirky shows to watch is "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. He did a showcase on Chocolate and syrup happened to be on the menu. He showed a great fat free recipe. So we decided to make it. Zack helped.

After Making it we used the old syrup bottles so as to 'fool' Zack into thinking it is the real thing. Best thing about this recipe, other then it being fat free, is that it is so strong that we don't use as much to get the desired effect... Chocolate Milk! We have added this to our recipe book so that in a few months we can make it again and now you can too. Enjoy!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cocoa-syrup-recipe/index.html

State Fair

It is that time of year again!

Summer is settling down and Autumn is beginning to show it's beautiful colors. This is my favorite time of the year. One of my favorite parts about it is the State Fair. We love going to the fair as a family every year. Aaron grew up going with his family and really wanted to pass the experience along to me when we started dating, and we have continued to go every year. We took off work early Thursday so we could get down there in time to enjoy it before it got too late. We like to go on opening night, partly because that is a discounted rate to get in, and also because it's before too many of the crowds descend on the fair.

I picked up Zack from my parents and met Aaron at home to drive to the fairgrounds. The whole drive Zack sat in the back seat yelling "Let's go to the fair!" He was pretty excited. When we got down there we first walked through the animals for Zack. He doesn't really like the idea of touching them, but he likes to look. After that we walked out to the pony ride. Aaron asked Zack if he wanted to ride the ponies this year. He said no. Aaron asked if he was sure, he still said no. So we decided to walk on. As we were walking away Zack starts yelling "Ride the ponies!" I guess he just needed time to warm up to the new idea. His horse was named Thunder and he had fun wearing dad's hat and yelling "YeeHaw!"

While Zack was riding the ponies Aaron's parents came to meet us. They like to go to the fair multiple times each year, and we have fun spending time with them on the night we go. Grandpa and Grandma loved seeing Zack trying out something new. And he just smiled bigger with all the attention he was getting.

After that we went to find some food! This is my personal favorite part of the fair. I love all the variety. Aaron skipped lunch just for the occasion, and I had a small lunch (pregnant women don't skip meals...ever). We love to get Navajo tacos every year. That seems to be our favorite meal there. All we could seem to get Zack to eat was pickles and fries...we tried with other things, but to no avail. Sometimes you just can't seem to fight a two year old! When Cathy saw the pickles and fries, she said "Pickles and fries, perfect for a pregnant woman!" Which I had to quickly respond that they were for Zack...I can't stand pickles right now!

After that we just wandered to booths. This is so much fun! We rarely buy anything, but it is so fun to see the stuff people have to sell. Zack likes to see the toy booths, and we have to hang around those booths for quite a while for him to be satisfied. After Zack went potty (more on that later! yay!) we promised him some ice cream for being such a big boy. Dippin' Dots are always a good summer evening treat! Shortly after that we decided it was time to go home. It was almost 9 at this point and Zack was saying he was ready to go home. We sometimes try to watch part of the rodeo, but this year we decided to skip it. It sure was a fun night to spend as a family!

Welcome to our Blog!

We are now entering the blogosphere!
This is where we can share our stories about our family and how cute our kiddies are.
We hope you enjoy!

Aaron & Amanda Bates