Potty Training in a day

After realizing for some time that Cortney (who was 2yrs. in February) was more than ready for potty training, it was just up to mommy to get motivated to do it! So, after encouragement from friends and family, I read up on the potty training in a day method and decided to try it!

The idea is that you have your child throw away their diapers and go straight to the underwear. The picture on the left is her heading to throw her diapers in the trash. Then, for the day you have a "potty party" with special snacks, drinks, and prizes. We had not introduced the little potty til this day and we made it a special present. The picture above shows how into her potty she was that she even ate her breakfast on it! The rest of the day was filled with practice on trying to go to the bathroom on the potty and we had a poop success right away. She loved making her baby use the potty during our practice sessions! The peeing in the potty toke a lot of work! I thought for sure we had failed because she wet through 10 pairs of underwear for the day and only slightly made it to the potty once. As you can see she wore her boots and underwear around the yard. I guess she was concerned with "falling water".

Well, after one day of multiple accidents I was sure that the system didn't work. But, low in behold the next morning Cortney was dry and has not had an accident since! Crazy, huh! It's been 2 weeks and I'm so proud of her! She always makes it to the potty to pee and lets me know when a "toot" is just a "toot" and when it's time to race to the potty for a BM. She says she loves to make me happy! And she really has!

A rare family photo

Pictured here:First row- Stephanie, Jeff, Becca, Cortney, Dad, Mom, Abram(Ryan's youngest) my sister Ruthanne (Who is expecting her 1st child in September), my youngest brother Rob (who is going to Azusa Pacific Univ next year)
Second Row-my bother Ross (who is attending Calvin College) my nephew Malachi (Ryan's 1st born son) my brother Ryan, my sister-in law Rachel, and my brother in law Jeff Huizenga.

So, this was a "Verwys" family photo from March. Unfortunately, we were all dressed up to attend my grandpa's funeral. Ryan and his family flew in from California. We had a wonderful time celebrating my Grandpa's life and being together. I miss him! But grandpa has blessed our family unto the generations for his faithfulness and love with his Lord and Savior!

Florida Family Fun in February

Jeff, Stephanie, Cortney, and I enjoyed a much needed family vacation to Marco Island, FL. We had warm weather and made great memories! Our decision everyday was whether to start the day at the pool with swimming or go out to the beach for castles and fun in the waves. We also enjoyed walks on the beach and just great family bonding with a trip out for mini golf. Stephanie is so proud of herself that she can now swim under water without her life jacket. A pair of new goggles are to thank for this! Cortney enjoyed swimming in the pool and loved to be on her own in her life jacket. We were gone a little over a week, but of course the days flew by even though we didn't do much. We were thankful for the opportunity we had to have this vacation because the business of life was able to be put on hold for family!

CORTNEY IS TWO

On February 13, we celebrated Cortney's 2 birthday. She is a busy and always talking little girl. She just had her 2 year old physical and she was 37.5 inches which is a ways off the chart. This explains why everything is short on her. She was 28 pounds, which is about average. Her favorite phrase is to say..."ok" to any request we have. Of course there are the occasional temper tantrums too! She knows how to get under Stephanie's skin and cause trouble and then act innocent about the whole thing. The future will be interesting with these sisters.

Fun in the Snow with the neighborhood

Jeff made a special sledding hill with the snow from the driveway with the snowblower. He called it the "half pipe" and beneath it he carved out a cave. It was quite the attraction for the neighborhood kids. We have had plenty of days of snow for outdoor activities. It's been fun, but we are ready for spring. Mommy is sick of the production of loading the snow gear on to play outside. Plus, this cold has to go!

Getting ready for Christmas ,with a visit to a live Nativity

Stephanie, Cortney and I went with our friends to the Critter Barn to view the "Live Nativity".

Of course, our Savior was born in a different setting and more like a cave than a barn, but it was still fun to see all the animals. Cortney loved to feed every animal straw whether they want it our not. And I had to protect the little chicks from strangulation when Cortney had a grasp. Stephanie loved the bunnies and kittens. It was just a good reminder that maybe Jesus had his first bedroom filled with smells and loud animal noises.

The girls thought it was great!

We enjoyed a warm fall! --just so you can remember with us!

We love our wooded backyard, except for the hours of raking it entails in the fall! The girls(And neighbors) love to jump in our piles! I guess it does give Jeff and I a since of accomplishment when we see our huge collection of leaves on the road ready to be picked up. Our landscape also includes a lot of perennials that require some maintenance in the fall so we stay busy on the weekends with home projects.







Jeff and I did get to get to take a lovely and warm fall weekend up to Mackinaw Island, Mi for a marriage retreat with some friends from church. It was a fun event at a nice hotel. It was a great chance to reconnect with each other and some friends.