Potty Training 101!

Jaxson and Vada cruising the yard in their jeep!

Vada being cute prior to peeing through this outfit! :)

This week Presten and I decided that this was the week to finally start potty training Vada. However, I am not quite sure that Vada thought this was the week to start…. We put the batteries in her musical potty chair, got out all her underwear, hyped it up as much as we could and I think that we are about 0-15 right now. This is what a typical conversation starts with-

Me: “Vada, do you have to go potty?”
Vada: “no”
Me: “Will you at least try for me?”
Vada: “okay….. mommy, I peed!”
Me: looking in the potty chair – “no I don’t see any pee in there…?”
Vada: “me all done, mom”
Me: “okay Vada- we pee on the toilet if have to go potty…okay?!”
Vada: about 20 minutes later “moooommmy- I peeeeed, ahhh clean me!”

This conversation has happened about 10 times a day and every time she pees in her underwear! I said if we were doing it that I wasn’t going to stop and I am okay with cleaning up pee for another few weeks if I knew that she was actually going to get it. Maybe she just really is not ready…. I don’t know what to do! You would think that by going through this once before I wouldn’t be so confused, but I am. We’ll see how week two goes!

With all the nice weather, Jaxson has been playing outside almost every waking minute. However, apparently all the sunshine means that there are no rules and listening is does not exist. We love that we have great neighbor kids that love to play with Jaxson, but he just needs to be reeled in. He’s running in and out the house, taking toys outside that end up getting lost, not shutting doors and in return Lexi escapes! We are just trying to get him to sloooww down. This is also his last week of preschool for the summer. This year has gone by way too fast!

Presten has had some extremely long days at work these last couple weeks, staying in Minneapolis a few of them. This week is not going to be any different, we are not complaining, but will be really happy when we get to see him a little more! In addition, to working he is also working out with a personal trainer two times a week and also trying to fit in a couple group fitness classes. So if he is not at work he is at the gym. He is hoping that by the end of May we will be able to be on a regular schedule. He is building me another garden today, so hopefully I will be able to get everything planted next weekend!

Have a great week!
The Bean’s

Love and Fear

Jaxson and Vada outside Trustone Financial in Minneapolis on our way to the Lynlake Festival this afternoon! We are ready for SuMmEr!!!!

So when I said “we’re back!” -well I lied…. Apparently, I was bit over confident in my ability to actually follow through. After another long hiatus, I am going to try and renew my commitment to blogging. This time however, I am making no real promises that this is going to actually happen every week.

The start of 2010 has made us face so many different emotions and possibilities. A common question I get asked is, “so what have you guys been up too?” For some reason every time I get asked this question I have to really STOP and THINK. I have a feeling that I am not alone when saying this. “I don’t know…. WHAT have I been doing?” The last five months have been such a rollercoaster ride that I seem to be constantly looking forward and not holding sacred the things of the past. When this happens everything seems to get lumped into one big blur. Part of the reason that I love the concept of blogging so much is that it forces me to sit down and really remember the things that bring happiness to my life. During my “blog vacation” not only did I not journal, I also really didn’t take any pictures. I think in the moment I didn’t want to remember, I didn’t want this to be apart of our history….and now looking back, I am really glad it was. Our lives have been completely strengthened from this experience.

In church this morning we talked about FEAR. I have to say I think that I faced what I consider one of my greatest fears, having only one of us working for an extended period of time. At some point during this process I had to choose faith over fear. I had to say okay “I’m in”. Matthew 11:28-30 says, 28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." When I finally surrendered my fears and anxieties of life, the load I was carrying was a whole lot lighter. I started to plant a lot more seeds of love. I look now at the time that Presten was home as a time for rest for our family. By "trying" the best that I knew how to surrender my fears, our lives were rejuvenated.

Presten started his new job in March and for those of you that have seen him know that he has been recharged! He has energy that is contagious and a newfound glow. He is so happy that it makes me smile just thinking about it. I think that is what I love about him so much he has this natural way of projecting love onto others. He lives in the present moment. He is making me a better mom, wife and person and I am so lucky to have him!

Jaxson and Vada have completely adapted to our new schedules and have taken the transition of daddy going back to work as nothing new. I partly relate this to our commitment to normalcy for them, nonetheless they have totally adjusted.

It has taken about two months for Presten and me to transition into a schedule routine. I feel like there were so many things that I had intended to do when he was home, but didn’t. I am now slowly starting to add those things back into my life. One of them being- friends. This experience has shown me how important my friends really are to me and I want to be more intentional about my relationships that I have with them. I tend sometimes to get caught up in the anxieties and logistics of planning and what is happening next that I lose sight of being present and completely calm in the moment. Since Presten has started his job we spent a night in Remer, MN with my girlfriend Kimmy and her family. The kids and I drove over to Eau Claire, WI to visit my girlfriends Brook and Amy. Presten and I spent a night in Minneapolis with our friends Chris and Kristin singing and dancing the night away while the kids were at grandma and grandpa’s, When we do these things our cups are filled with happiness. I want things in my life to be deliberate.

Over the past eight months, Vada has turned into our little pink princess. She LOVES PINK! Not that I had anything to do with that :) . She presents herself with many challenges, but when she is happy she radiates light. She loves her brother and tries to take care of him when he is sad. Someone asked me this week, “How did you get them to love each other so much?” I didn’t have an answer for her at the time, but it has made me think about how much value we place on grace and kindness in our home.

Jaxson is at an age where he is just simply LOVING LIFE. He has had an great year at preschool and made a very good friend, Beckett. He is currently in swimming lessons and just amazes me with his commitment to succeeding. Most importantly, he is looking forward to turning FIVE!!

Well, I think that summer has arrived and in full force. I hope everyone has a chance to get in their daily dose of vitamin D this week! I also hope that you find new ways of spreading love throughout your life.

Have a great week!! The Bean's

trying to find normal

This week I had to remind myself to - Breathe. We all are adjusting to a new schedule and a new normal. Considering it was just week one, I think we all did pretty well. Of course, I forgot to get my camera out and take pictures this week. These past five months the pictures were few and far between. That is the great thing about blogging I am constantly capturing every moment. Goal for week two- take lots and lots of pictures!! This week I have included a couple pictures from our trip to Mexico. We went to Playa del Carmen in February for Lacey and Aaron's wedding. It was just what needed and we had an amazing time!!

After the beach ceremony- Cheri, Lacey and I.

Jaxson and Vada packing themselves for their trip to grandma's! They had so much fun with both sets of grandparents and auntie Sarah while we were gone that they wished we were vacationing for a couple more days!! Maybe next time!!

This past Saturday, the park and rec board in Otsego that I am apart of sponsored an Easter Egg hunt. The kids hopped through the field and collected their Easter eggs! They even met the Easter bunny!! Jaxson - was totally cool with him. Vada- not so much.... :)

Tonight's blog is a short one, because I am exhausted! I am mentally preparing for week two!

Have a great week!! The Bean's

Menu for the week

(I only go to the grocery store every two weeks, so the second of the two we typically have pretty simple meals)

Monday- spaghetti

Tuesday- Hot chicken foccisa snadwhich

Wednesday- Italian goulash

Thursday- Stir-fry and egg rolls

Friday- off to Rochester for Easter

Guess What?! After five long months, the Bean blog is back! WOW- I can’t believe that it has been that long, but it feels Grrreat! I wish I could tell you that the reason I needed to take a break from blogging was because we were so busy living life to the fullest that I just didn’t have time to blog. This decision to take a break however- was intentional. Have you ever had a period in your life where you just want to say “life sucks?” Well, we entered a season in our life over the past few months where our world was pretty much tipped upside down leaving us spinning in circles. Even though we knew that we had so many things to be thankful for and that our blessings were abundant; there were many days the things we knew to be true in our hearts were not as equally true in our minds. There were many days I quite frankly was not “present” in my own life. There are many of you that unfortunately, witnessed this first hand. My crabbiness, distraction, and anxiety were plastered to my face. It truly was a blessing to have family and friends that just simply- understood.

Today- life is good. God continues to work in our lives; of course he never really stopped. There were days where my patience was wearing thin and I wanted him to work a little faster and give us some real answers. Sitting here today it is pretty hard to deny how active he really has been. We have been blessed over and over again. So today, we enter a new season. One full of gratitude, love and humbleness. And we are PUMPED!

So do you want to hear about the little Bean Monsters? Mr. Jaxson, aka Tommy (his new name he insists we call him) is still my sweet little four year old that loves to snuggle with his mommy. He loves his teachers at school and playing with his friend Beckett. He just started a cooking class at school that he has been begging me to sign him up for- which he LOVES!! He is always hungry. He is doing a great job writing all his letters and will be starting swimming lessons in a couple weeks!

Miss Vada, aka T-rouble! I am not even sure where to start with her…. She has a personality that is projected into every environment that she goes. We decided long ago that Vada doesn’t enter into different stages- her life is a stage. Vada is the STAR of the show! Her ADD, oral sensory issues and impulsiveness don’t help matters much and makes our lives one big circus! So what does like Vada like to do? Well, if she is not sneaking food into her bed, climbing in the refrigerator, jumping on her brother, sneaking outside or taking her clothes off- she is probably reading stories, coloring or playing babies. Unfortunately the first part of this list take up about 90% of her day that leaves very little time for her to do activities that are actually constructive. I am very excited to report that she is starting to say soooo many words!!! She has such a sense a humor definitely keeps us laughing!

As many of you know, one of my favorite hobbies is recipe searching, menu planning and cooking. This was something that was thrown to the wayside over the past few months. Partly, because Presten started cooking a lot more and I just didn’t have as much involvement. For the first time in probably over two months I stepped into the one place I have a complete love/hate relationship with….the grocery store. This time however, I was overjoyed. I brought with me my list and my two week menu with all new recipes on it. Spring recipes! After getting asked a lot, “so what’s for dinner tonight?” and recognizing my failed attempt to food blog; I am going to try to include our weekly menu at the bottom of our blog each week. We’ll see how it goes….

Well I am off to prepare for a busy week ahead and hopefully get a chance to enjoy a little bit of this sunshine!

Have a great week! The Bean’s


Weekly Menu:

Sunday- Roasted chicken thighs with tomatoes, garlic, asparagus and mushrooms
Monday- Taco night
Tuesday- bbq shrimp over rice

Wednesday- homeade ham and bean soup
Thursday- Chicken, mushroom, parmesan orzo
Friday- Teriyaki pork chops Sesame noodles
Saturday- Turkey Burgers with feta topping and potato salad

We made this cake this weekend - no doubt a keeper!! Lemon cake

Fall Photo Shoot

Life with the Bean rugrats!

Hello! Well this week I finally remembered to bring my camera for Jaxson's football game! This week he had a 6:30 game so by the end of the game they were playing under the lights. He has been having a lot of fun at football, but it does make for a long day for him now that he is at preschool all day. He was making comments at the end that he was really tired. The remaining three games are all at 5:30, so that should help. We have been practicing with him more this week, he has a tough time always understanding what to do. I have to remind myself that he is playing with 8 year olds so that obviously makes a difference.

SPIDERMAN!! On Saturday, daddy had to work so we decided to go to a community ed carnival with the Teddy Bear Band! They had two wonderful ladies doing face painting. Jaxson got a spiderman mask and Vada did sit for her to get two little hearts on her face.

Friday morning we had a local photographer take pictures of the kids. This experience reminded me of why I have been postponing/dreading this day for weeks! The first stress is figuring out what they are going to wear and then actually trying to get Vada to try the clothes on and then leave them on. The morning of the pictures was pretty much a disaster. Vada was being her typical difficult self, which I can handle, but within 10 minutes of having her cream sweater on she got into the lily pollen and had yellow pollen all over her sleeves. After she realized that she had gotten dirty with the pollen she turned around a spilled my coffee which then of course she insists on cleaning up. Now she has coffee and yellow pollen on her sleeves. Ahhh! I was able to clean her sweater well enough and really at that point I didn't have another choice.

We then arrived to our destination and Vada would not and I mean WOULD NOT let got of me. She did not want anything to do having her pictures taken. The photographer was so patient and understanding. She really was trying to get their pictures taken together, but I knew going into this that would not be happening. Vada sit still...ummm good luck:) I told her that Vada's are going to have to all be candid and probably by herself- if she will let go of me! After she snapped a bunch of Jaxson we were able to get some of Vada all within probably one minute- the longest we got her to focus. This went on for the entire shoot until the last 5 minutes when we all sat on the ground with her pretended that we were having a picnic. We should of known- mention food to Vada and their are endless smiles!

Of course we get home and I she is as happy as can be and I was able to take bunch of pictures of her.

Vada has started to play a little more independently, even if it is only for a max of five minutes. Her two favorite things are trains and babies. You may be wondering why she is naked- well after the photo shoot she did not want to have her clothes on and I pretty much just gave in.

She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES trains!

Grandma Vickie moved this week into her new town home!! In the move she decided that she didn't need the rocking horse that she had-so now Vada is the new owner and she is loving it!! She is not to good with sharing it yet, but we are working on it. She knows the word "mine."




Here is Vada playing with her babies. She loves pushing them around in the stroller, feeding them and putting them to bed. She is such a good little mommy to her babies and like any good mommy she always make sure that when she takes one somewhere that she has all five! Sometimes we can sneak a couple out, but now she is starting to notice! No playing favorites for her!

She even thinks that she needs to be in their bed with them! She just sits in there and talks to them.

I had my first experience at the Cheesecake Factory on Friday, and it did not disappoint! I had the peanut butter cup cheese cake--oo so good! I went out for dinner with Amy, Brook and Tiffany while Presten and the kids spent the evening at Jakes eating Pizza and watching football! It was really fun to have a couple hours of girl time and of course catch up with them!

Presten was at the game today-- what a game!! Plus, he was pretty excited because now he is in the Vikings program two times! Look for him on the first page!

Well I think that is all for now! Have a great week! The Bean's

across the finish line, hand in hand!!

BEAN TEAM!

For the third time in the last five years, Presten and I skated in the Northshore inline marathon this past weekend. The kids went to grandma and grandpa's which made the logistics of everything a bit easier- plus we got a really nice break!

We arrived in Duluth on Friday afternoon to pick up our race packets at the convention center. This didn't take long considering we have skated two times prior, we pretty knew what to expect. Then we headed off to Sammy's in Cloquet for our 2nd annual pre race spaghetti dinner! After dinner we went back to our hotel to veg out! It was a weekend of movies for us!

We woke up bright and early to make sure that we had everything ready for the race. The bus left the DECC around 6:45a to take us up to Two Harbors.

Here a picture of sea of skaters getting ready for the race

Okay now it is really time to get ready!

All set!


SEE YOU IN DULUTH!

WE MADE IT!

STILL SMILING!

The race went well, but for me at least it was pretty tough! Presten was an all-star, there were times that I was just exhausted and he pulled my hand and we just cruised! This gave me the needed breaks to make it to the finish line. Our time wasn't great- mainly because I was a slow poke, but it was exciting that we skated the whole way together.

We are sore today, not as bad as we thought we would be-hopefully that is not a jinx for tomorrow!

The kids of course were spoiled to death this weekend and had a more than their helping of fun! Back to reality for all of us!!

Thanks for checking in with us!! The Bean's