Kayleigh's Potty Training Reward

We have been telling Kayleigh for months that if she would start using the potty she could ride the train that passes by our house several times a day. She had been on this train before at a friends birthday party and loved it. So after several days of successfully using the potty we decided that it was time to reward her and take her on the train. This train is a real passenger train in our city that you can ride for about 22 cents per person one way. We all had a great time riding the train. We rode it to the end of the line and watched the engine come around and attach itself to the other side of the train so we could ride back to where we started. The kids thought that was very interesting. Kayleigh's friends Bright and Zion joined us for the ride.

Here we are waiting for the train to arrive.

Hanging out on the tracks.

Not sure what kind of faces Zeb and Kayleigh are making here. They really did have a good time I promise!

Kayleigh Did It!!!

Kayleigh is successfully potty trained. Well at least for the most part. We still have a few accidents every now and then. However, we are going on our third week of no diapers and it is going great. She seems so much older now that she doesn't use diapers any more. We are so proud of her. I have to give a lot of credit to my friend Danielle. If you read my previous post about trying to potty train her then you know that my problem was that she was holding using the bathroom until she was in pain. Danielle suggested that I stick her hand in warm water to make her go while she was on the potty. It worked! This helped her to realize how to go on her own and the rest is history. Thanks Danielle!

Chinese New Year Celebration!

For Chinese New Year's day we had everyone that was left in the city over for some Mexican food! I guess if we should have had Chinese food! We had a great time and most of all survived all 8 kids that played in our house running like crazy. Kayleigh, of course, had a blast and loved having all her friends over. Zeb even had a friend too. Her name is Zoe and she was born two days after him. They mostly looked at each other and stole toys back and forth. Because there was so much craziness I only got one picture for the whole evening. I am so glad that everyone could come. We had a blast!

Thailand Trip Day 6

Our last and final day in Thailand consisted mostly of traveling back to Kunming. We started early, around 5:00am, which surprisingly, the kids did very well. Everyone was excited about flying back home. We had to change planes in Bangkok, so we had a 2 hour layover, just enough time to get in a little breakfast before leaving. There is a Burger King in the Bangkok airport so Kayleigh got to eat eggs and hash browns. Then a Dairy Queen blizzard for dessert! Life in China does not allow us to have these Western treats so we eat them any chance we have.

Right after this picture was taken, what we thought was a spit-up stain on his pants was actually the indication of a diaper that was totally blown out! Good thing our gate had a bathroom with a changing station in it! After Zeb's diaper was changed we walked right on the plane.

Thailand Trip Day 5

We tried to go to the airport museum this day but we could not get a hold of the manager to allow us access to the museum. The museum is located on the air force base in Chiang Mai and we need special permission to enter to see the old airplanes. So, after a valiant try, we decided the kids would like to play at the park down the street where we were staying. Below are the pictures from that time and the experience they had was exciting.

Kayleigh enjoying her favorite past time. We believe she would swing an entire 24 hours straight if we let her.

Zeb thoroughly enjoying the Thailand weather. It was about mid-70s while we where there during the day. Zeb also hates wearing socks, so it was perfect for him.

There was this cool little swing that could hold about 6 kids at a time and it resembled a bus or a train. Zeb wanted to participate with the big kids and he had a blast just looking at them from behind.

Zeb with his 2 front bottom teeth.

Kayleigh strutting around in a tree house.

Prepping for the pool! After everyone gets greased up, we're off!

Zeb is not sure what to think of the ice cold water he is playing in. Part of him wants to jump in and kick his little legs until he gets tired and part of him is saying "no way am I getting into that!"

Thailand Trip Day 4 part 2

Part 2 of day 4 in the Thailand Chronicles starts out with us going to the mall for shopping, food, and a little fun. As you can see below, the balls are Kayleigh's favorite place to go and have fun. Bright and Zion also had their share of laughs and fun. This whole place has slides, a ball pit, balloon room, and a moon walk. You pay $1 and you can stay for an hour. The dads had a lot of fun chucking balls at each other while the kids played. We were all exhausted after a big day at the mall. To this day we are still recovering from our Thailand trip!

Kayleigh having the time of her life.

Climbing up to go down the slide again.

In the balloon pit.

Someone stepped on her toe in the Moon Walk.

Thailand Trip Day 4 part 1

On the fourth day of our trip we went to the zoo with our friends Bright and Zion. They absolutely loved to see all of the animals up close. We even were able to feed giraffes and an elephant their food. Kayleigh was really scared but still enjoyed watching them be fed from our hands. The zoo is built on the side of a mountain so the entire complex has many hills and valleys. The zoo recommends that we ride the trolley system to each part of the zoo where you can get off, look at animals and wait for the next trolley a few minutes away. The zoo also had a very nice aquarium that the kids also loved. 

Kayleigh, Zion, Kayla, and Bright on the trolley.

Kayleigh looking at the Ostriches first hand.

Daddy and Kayleigh sitting in the trolley together.

Near the Koala exhibit.

Kayleigh, Zion, and Bright hanging out waiting for the next trolley.

Thailand Trip Days 2 and 3

Not much happened our first day in Thailand. We spent most of the day at the hospital getting check ups done for the whole family. It mostly consisted of crying kids since they were recovering from all the hard traveling the day before. We put them to bed early that night and all the adults enjoyed a nice dinner from our favorite Mexican restaurant in Chaing Mai.

Day 3 of our trip was much more fun and eventful. We had well rested kids which made the day much more bearable. We rented a car for the week so we headed up the mountain in the car for a drive to see the sites. After lunch, naps, and a wonderful, long awaited haircut by me we took the Rupps to the Juniper Tree to show them where they would be living while they have their baby in Chaing Mai this summer. John and I lived there while we had Zeb and loved it. We would recommend it to anyone. Below are some great pictures from the day.

Here are Kayleigh and Bright at a overlook that we stopped at in the mountains.

Kayleigh on her favorite swing at the Juniper Tree. When we were there to have Zeb she basically wanted to swing night and day. She even chose to swing over going to the pool. I wish we could find a swing around here.

Thailand Trip Day 1

Well, we are back from Thailand and we had a blast. I plan to give you an update of each of our days there so you can get a feel for how are trip went. The first day was a travel day. Those days are never my favorite and for some reason never uneventful. So we began our travel last Thursday around 1:30pm. We headed to the airport only to find out that our flight was delayed by an hour and half. So instead of leaving at 3:20 we left at almost 5pm. When we first heard the news we were a little worried about missing our connecting flight at 7 out of Bangkok to Chiang Mai. However, the lady at the ticket counter assured John in these words "it is not possible for you to miss your flight". However, this did not really reassure us since we are pretty sure it is possible. So we were trying to figure out what to do with the kids while we waited. We decided to hit the new KFC inside the airport for a really really early dinner because we didn't know if we would have another chance to feed them. When we arrived in Bangkok we literally ran to the next gate to get on the plane. We arrived at the gate at 6:59. The flight was to take off at 7pm! After landing in Chiang Mai we waited for 30 minutes for our luggage to arrive only to find out that for some reason we had to go to the international terminal to pick it up. By the time the kids were placed in their beds it was 11pm to their bodies. They were all so tired and worn out from the trip. We were hoping for a better day after a good night of rest.

Kayleigh's First HairCut!

This past Saturday Kayleigh received her first haircut. I have been talking to her about getting one for quite some time. She seemed fine with it so I called up my friend Kayla and asked her to cut Kayleigh's hair. We decided it would be best for her to watch a movie while Kayla was cutting it so she would be still. She didn't even move until it came time to cut her bangs and they were tickling her face. She did great! It looks so cute and she has more curls now!

This is right before she started.

Here she is glued to the t.v. She doesn't even know what is happening.

Not sure what this face is for?

Cloth Diapers Here We Come!

Well we started using cloth diapers last week. I am pleasantly pleased so far. I have only had three leaks which is my fault because I left the diaper on too long. I had anticipated having much more mainly because I thought I would be sure to assemble the diapers all wrong. When I first heard that my friend was using cloth diapers I thought she was crazy but once I saw how high tech these diapers were it made more and more since to switch. My diapering time has moved from 3 minutes to about 10 minutes. I'm still getting the hang of it. It doesn't help that when I change Zeb it is the equivalent of changing a monkey! I have to hold him down to strap those things on! Boys are so different. The best part is they are really cute! Check out Zeb sporting one on the couch.

Potty Training Take 2!

My personal New Year's resolution was to potty train Kayleigh. Lets face it wiping two bottoms at least 3 to 4 times a day especially in the morning when they are both poops is getting a little old! I'm moving Zeb to cloth ( more on that in another post) and trying to transition Kayleigh out diapers all together. I have tried two unsuccessful days to potty train her. The first day was not planned she looked at me and told me that she wanted to use the potty so my all means I wasn't going to discourage her. That day was not a success. Nothing happened not even a drop! So on this past Tuesday I told John I was buckling down and really doing it. I read this book about how to potty train your child in a half of a day. Before you laugh, I don't believe this is true. I believe in the method they suggest but I don't think she will be completely potty trained by lunch time. So we start out that morning and the book suggests that I show her how to use the potty using a doll. Kayleigh was really into this because she gets treats if her baby uses the potty. When it came time for her to use the potty she did not do it. To give her credit there was a drop or two but that was it. Here is the problem....she basically drinks a ton of liquids and then holds it for so long that she begins to hurt and then starts crying and gives up. Once the diaper is back on she finally uses the bathroom. I can't get her to use it in the potty! Any advice or suggestions are welcome. My plan was to have her potty trained before we left for Thailand but I don't that is going to happen.

Here she is teaching the baby to take off her panties.

Here she is teaching her baby to sit and use the potty.

Kayleigh's Obsession!

Kayleigh has an obsession. It isn't with t.v. or things you might think she would be obsessed with. It is an eraser. Yes, that was not a typo. It all started this past summer when some of our friends moved back to America. They gave her a little Snoopy holder that had a pencil, scissors, and eraser in it. The eraser is pink and smells like strawberries. We have no idea why she loves this eraser so much but she does. She carries it around and asks people to smell it. Her response when you smell it is "smells so good!" She would like to take this eraser everywhere she goes but we have decided not to let her after an incident we had earlier this month. I let her take it down to a friends house and she left it there. For several days she asked about the eraser until they were able to return it. This eraser has such high priority that it gets its on pillow at night to sleep on next to her baby doll. Check out the picture below. One day, maybe on her wedding day I'm going to tell this story to her future husband!

Christmas Again!

Josh and Danielle's family got here on Monday night which meant on Tuesday morning we had Christmas day all over again. We spent the morning talking to my parents and sisters as Kayleigh opened her gifts. She is now confused and thinks we should open presents about every two days. She was pretending to call my Mom on the phone yesterday and said "Nanna more presents!". I had to tell her that Christmas was really over this time. We got some wonderful gifts. My family loaded me up with some new clothes which I love! Zeb got some really cute outfits and Kayleigh got some fun stuff too. Kayleigh loves bubbles so for Christmas I asked John's parents to get her bubble bath. I couldn't find it anywhere in China. After opening them she asked me all day if she could use them and I told her she had to wait till bath time. I ran the water and my excitement was building as I took her into the bathroom. I couldn't wait to see her reaction. Much to my surprise she went completely ballistic and told me that she was scared of them! What?! I had to put my hand in the water to convince her that they were not going to "get" her. Once she got in she warmed up to the bubbles and loved them!

Zeb in one of his cute new outfits that my sister Hayley got him.

Zeb just started this thing where he likes to just let things hang from his mouth. Not sure why?

Kayleigh loving her bubbles!

These shoes are my personal favorite gift of Kayleigh's.