helllllloooooo

So I thought it'd be REALLY neat to write a quick post about some of the stuff going on right now.

Potty Training: I think we're out of the woods with this one, Maia's been going for a couple months now comfortably. We had tried a while back because I had seen that other bloggy mommies were putting their near 2 year olds on the toilet and I felt like we were behind. BUT after getting frustrated, I decided to step back and look at the picture as a whole. It dawned on me that at some point - all of our kids will know how to go to the bathroom on the toilet and by that time it'll no longer matter who trained their kid when. I'm not down playing your accomplishments - but for me, I had to STOP comparing. It just tears you down.

Note: her little diaper-less butt :)

So what did we do? We put the potty seat away and just waited for her to show us that SHE was ready. And it came around...she started to pretend to go to the potty like every 5 minutes and she would flush the toilet and everything. So we decided to give it ago. Since then she's only had 2 accidents and pooping is still a hard one for her, she asks for a diaper and at that point we usually know to put her on the potty. She wears a pull up to bed and that's about it. She wakes herself up at nap time to go if she has to and that is a recent development. At first she'd go in her sleep. But she's quickly learning.

School: Maia is in her second year of kinder. It's very similar to a pre-school in the US. They work with her from 8am - 12 pm, Mondays through Friday. They teach her in English and Spanish, numbers, letters, dancing, singing...basics and as she gets older it gets harder. They test her individually to know where she's at and what she needs to work on. I love her teachers. They're so in tune to her and they have huge hearts. The school isn't a private school and they don't call themselves "religious" or anything but they do pray with the kids and I think that's super neat. Our decision to put her in school stemmed a lot from the fact that we don't know anyone with children and so we really wanted her to be able to play and interact with other children. It's important. Because at the home the closest person in age to her is 9 years older.

Ballet: The very first class, she cried the whole time. Coincidentally she had also started her first day back at school that day and was extremely tired. The second class went smoothly with some whining at the beginning but Maia REALLY enjoys dancing. The teacher is SO sweet and SO patient. I give that woman KUDOS! We put Maia into ballet because she's a very active child and LOVES to dance and tumble around. We originally were looking into gymnastics but I don't think they do that here without paying an good buckaroo. I'm happy with this decision!

You can find Maia on the far left :)

Discipline: Setting a rule. Getting down on her level. FOLLOWING THROUGH. Tough stuff but so crucial. She hates time outs - but it's effective for us because it allows both of us as parents to calm down and Maia to calm down before we approach her. I think that she tends to really take it well when we get down on her level and talk to her like an adult. She responds to that very well.

Down Time: Jose and I both recently sat down and had a rough conversation about what we're doing with our down time and how to manage our time better. It's so easy for us to get caught up in our computers and the internet that we lose sooo many hours a day to it and our daughter. We talked about things to do that would be fun for us all so that we're not tempted to get bored and go to the computers.

Wedding: We've decided that as much fun as weddings are - we're not really looking to spend an insane amount of money for one day. So after some thought and late night talks we've settled on something a little different but fitting for us! We'll be getting married soon here in a court house with a lawyer. BUT that's not the cool part haha. We've decided to just throw a huge celebration. We'll be going to the beach for a weekend here in Costa Rica with close friends and family. And we'll spend time having bonfires on the beach, longboarding, surfing, swimming, smore's and lots of fun. I'll still find a way to wear a cute white summer dress when I'm not in the water - I think that will actually be where my planning comes in...outfits and dresses with white while I'm not in the water. And then some fun photos :) And then once we get to the US, we'll throw a party there too for my family and friends.

Little Blessings: I was recently given the opportunity to get a phone. I got a smartphone. And for those of you that don't know it's a HUGE blessing because there's apps that will allow me to text, send pictures & videos, video call, and call to my family and friends in the US without me paying an extreme bill. No extra money outside of my plan here in CR. So that's HUGE. It's such a neat blessing. And I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna be REALLY nice having an extra camera and video recorder. So meet my new phone.... the HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio :) I love it, I can't wait until it arrives in the mail shortly!!! I was gonna get the iPhone 4S but after reading a LOT of reviews I went with the HTC.

God is so neat!!!