Hello, my name is Megan, and I'm a potty training quitter.

Guess who turns two in a few days! This kid. So unbelievable.

Don't let this picture fool you. He doesn't cuddle in real life. Now I have this picture to stare at and daydream of what life would be like with a cuddler. 

With the upcoming second birthday, we're looking at a lot of new changes. One being, VBS. Trevin is able to be in a class this year and I was determined to have him potty trained before then. I'm not sure why, but I just needed a goal to shoot for. So we gave potty training a shot. I was totally insane about this whole thing. Seriously, I was acting like a crazy person. You should have seen the amount of candy/crackers/treats/suckers/juice/kool-aid that I bought... I was delusional. I was prepared to give Trevin an endless amount of sugar just for some success. I would not suggest irrationality to anyone. If you find yourself in this situation, find an adult and ask for help. 

So here was our "Potty Central." It consisted of lots of distractions (toys, books, and George.) I started pumping him up with liquid and set the timer. This set up worked fairly well for us, except that we didn't actually get potty trained.  We spent a lot of time on the potty. A lot of time. So much time. Too much time. A ridiculous amount of time! Instead of saying "Ok, let's go sit on the potty!" I would say, "Ok, let's try getting off the potty!" This is my first one, guys. I just can't even figure out how this works. We had a about a 60% success rate the first day. I was feeling positive going into the second day. 50% success on day 2. And on day 3 we were up to 70% success. The only problem was that he never initiated going to the potty. He was either already on the potty, or I would recognize his concerned look when he had to go. He started to understand when he had to go, but I felt like he still wasn't grasping the concept of what to do. After 3 days of this I was so done, and he was too. We called it quits and decided to try again in a couple months. I'm not a quitter, but if it's potty training we're talking about, I'll accept that title. 

We did learn through this process, that Trevin loves hooking up his tractors and trailers. I'm not exaggerating when I say that he played with them about 5 hours that week. Which is HUGE for a 21-month-old. I did enjoy not having an "agenda" for 3 days and just enjoying my little boy, even if it meant cleaning up pee on the floor multiple times.     

Fun fact. The dirt in the picture above is from the hall in our basement! It doubled as an awesome "play set" for Trevin. He had dirt in every crevice of his body after playing on the mound. 

This, my friends, is a Trevin selfie. Congratulations society, you've even reached my toddler. Maybe you'll like his tweet on Instagram. Or wait... What? 

We got to meet Miss Luxy! What a doll. Trevin loved her, but didn't love me loving her. Basically, he got jealous. But we're glad that Trevin has a new friend to grow up with. Congrats to the Nuss'!

This is one of Trevin's favorite spots. He takes off the lid and crawls in with the blankets. Apparently it's the best view in the house for the TV.

And while we're on the topic of odd places to hang out... Yeah the cupboard is good. 

And then there's always the pantry! He loves to play in there for some reason. Just look at that face, doesn't look guilty at all, does it? Check out what's next to his feet.

Yup, just emptied a loaf of bread onto the floor. Most were smashed and some had a bite taken out of them. Whatever, we ate it. 

Are there even words for this? GAH! I'm just gushing over here.

Horsey rides are totally in right now. Dad is the coolest. 

Ashton and I built a fort for Trevin. He wasn't as impressed as he should have been. But we still managed to get an hour of play-time out of it. Our fort building skills have definitely diminished since we were kids. It was way harder than we remember it being. And it broke constantly. 

As March madness comes to a close, we finally begin our own basketball. We've loved the nice weather so Trevin can "shoot ball!" 

Two more things that Trevin loves: the driveway rock and going in and out the front door. The other day he decided it was time to bring the flower pots inside. (I think we were just a little late on that..) 

Trevin is all about order. Until he longs for destruction. Destruction generally wins. 

Farm life is good. 

The first touch of 

grass under the toes.

Ballin'

With summer right around the corner, CRC responsibilities have been picking up.  Lately I've been taking a stab at graphic design. It was almost as much fun as journal entries. And that's not a sarcastic remark. I had a blast learning new things in Photoshop.

Birthday bash coming soon!

Planning a party, growing on the farm... 

Twenty-one is so much fun.

Once again February has left us smiling. I hit a milestone this month. My body aged 21 years. I don't know where my mind is on that scale, though. My brain may still be stuck in the teens, or may have jumped to my thirties, not too sure. Sad thing is, I don't know which I'd prefer. I do know that life has been quite the adventure in just 21 short years. 

My birthday celebration was legendary. One for the books. There's something you should know about me... I love/hate surprises. I like surprises that I don't know about. But I don't like the anticipation of surprises that I do know about, such as gifts, dates, or anything else that I don't know the details about. So, with that said, James had something "planned" for my gift.  I'll be honest. I was terrified. "What if it is an awesome gift that I totally don't deserve?" "What if it is a really weird gift that I don't understand?" "What if it is a bad gift, do I pretend to like it?" Seriously, talk about over-analyzing. Sometimes I just have no idea how to be a normal person. (It's times like these that I think, "WWJD, What Would James Do?" He is the most rational person on the planet. And he's stuck with this mess of crazy.)  I tried my best to not attempt "begging" for a clue, because that's happened before. (Remember when I was confused about my mental age? Seven. Yup, just figured it out.) James told me we have to pick up the gift before going out to eat. I mentally crossed "Gun" off of my list, because we weren't going near Cabela's.  After an excruciating ride, with dramatic stop lights and last-second turns, we pulled into Ron's Music. I was getting a guitar. 

After squealing with delight, I turned to James in shock and said, "You listened." Folks, I've always wanted to learn to play the guitar, but the timing was never right (Involved high-schooler, turned wedding planner, turned newlywed, turned college student, turned MOM, and there's not much for time after that last kicker...) But still, learning to play the guitar was on my bucket list. I've only told him that I wanted to learn maybe 5 times since we've been together. It was the coolest gift because he was the only one that would have known to give it to me. (After I told my mom and sister, two people that know me better than most, that I got a guitar, they both asked, "Did you want a guitar?") We went into the store and the man asked what kind of guitar we wanted. I looked at James and said "Acoustic?" We were so ridiculous. We had no idea what we wanted. The man was helpful and I walked out gleaming. I ended up with an Ibanez and love it. I've learned about 10 chords and callouses have formed nicely. The first three days were really hard because I was playing the chords upside-down, making awkward finger placements and horrifying sounds. We got that taken care of... Thanks to my best cousins, Seth and Trey, for coaching me and not making me feel like too much of an idiot.  They're the coolest. 

After that surprise we headed to Olive Garden for supper. Now I ordered a glass of white wine, because I want people to think I'm classy. Guys, it was just bad. How do you nonchalantly force down a glass of wine and still be respected by anyone within view? The waiter came and suggested I try a red wine with my entree. I gave that a sip and he actually laughed at my reaction. Is it supposed to taste like that, really? Because if so, just give me the grapes. Needless to say, I turned down that glass. I've never understood what "dry" meant when describing wine... Now I FULLY understand. Later James made mention to the waiter that it was my birthday. Once he learned that I was 21 by just a few hours, said "Well if anyone asks, I carded you. So got a big night planned, then?" I grinned and told him we were going grocery shopping next. He was flabbergasted and scolded us saying we needed to celebrate. I guess I thought we were. :) Anyways, the manager then came and wished me a happy birthday and brought me some dessert, on the house. Next, we actually went grocery shopping. It I was thrilled because we were out of fruit and vegetables. (I take it back, maybe my mental age is 65...) 

Some of you are going to be thinking that my birthday sounded pretty lame, well, the real party happened a couple weeks later... I was laying in bed one night trying to imagine my perfect birthday. All I could think about was laser tag. Yes, laser tag. I realized that I wanted to take my best cousins and have and epic night of laser tag. So that's exactly what we did. Seth, Trey, Taylor, Emily, and Ashton joined James and I for battle. We had an hour session booked, which was split up into 8 continuous mini sessions. After the second session I was sweating remarkably. I haven't sweat that much since the time I ate a whole box of Sour Patch Kids in 10 minutes. We were at war with a bunch of 2nd grade boys. It couldn't have been more perfect. That is, until a group of 5th grade girls joined the party. THAT was awesome. They were terrible. We crushed them. I can't wait until Trevin is old enough so I can take him and not feel weird going by myself as an adult. After laser tag we hit up Red Robin (Yumm) and feasted. Awesome night with some awesome people. 

Valentine's day came a few days later and apparently Trevin isn't into tradition. He ripped up his Valentine when I wasn't looking. He hates love. But he loved the cookies, candies, and treats!

Trevin's vocabulary is exploding. Words are constantly forming on his lips. Some audible, others are hard to interpret. For your convenience, I've written a Trevin's Pocket Dictionary list for you. Here are some of the harder words to understand. I would suggest keeping this handy if you are ever near him. 

Trevin's Dictionary:

Din = Drink

Ewie = Movie, Louie, Ewie
Pit ta toe = Veggie Tales
On new new = Robin Hood
Up a ten = Elephant
Do I = I want it
Meer = Come here
Min = Come in
Bire = Fire
Moe Moy = One more
Woot = Milk
Boon = Balloon, spoon

Translations by Megan Huenefeld

Looks like warmer weather is headed this way! Can't wait to make this a regular occurrence.

Christian Resource Center lodge is coming along nicely! I stopped by last week to help paint the kitchen. Floors start being installed next week. So much progress.

Nicole Nuss is expecting in March and before the baby comes we wanted to get in a 'freezer meal' day. I'd say it was a success! We're hoping to tackle Runzas soon. Consider yourself impressed. 

She can really go anytime now, hard to believe it's gone this fast! Hopefully by next post, they'll have a healthy baby. :)

Do you want to know something? Mom's are the best. One Sunday, I walked out of the house without the diaper bag. Yeah, don't ask. My good friend Jocelyn Epp found out and brought Trevin a fruit jerky during service. That kept him content until it was time for children's church. Seriously, mom's just look out for each other. Special thanks to Jocelyn for saving my hide!

Cousin Jackson came over for a play-date! Trevin wasn't too sure about sharing his toys, but he enjoyed having someone to chase around. I can just sense trouble when these two are together. 

James and I have a constant battle over the thermostat. I like it warm and he likes it cold. It's generally good-natured teasing, but this morning I busted out laughing after seeing this. 

<<<<<<<<<

He took a marker to the screen and tried to fool me into thinking that it was set at a warmer temperature. He's hilarious. 

Because, why not? 

Bilingual household, growing on the farm...