Adventures in Potty Training!

Lilly has FINALLY decided that she wants to potty train! We introduced her to the idea soon after Jayne was born, but she just didn't care yet.

Last week she started asking to wear her big girl panties instead of diapers. I was a bit reluctant at first, not wanting to be cleaning up the accidents, but I let her try it for a while. She had some accidents and ran out of clean panties, so we went back to diapers. She actually does better in the diapers. I told her that when she can keep her diapers dry, we can wear the panties again. We brought out the gumball machine that Grandma Culbertson gave us and it's working great now! Lilly always reminds me, "Mom, when I go on the potty...gumball." So she's been keeping her diaper pretty much dry for the past two days. She's hasn't quite ventured into doing #2 on the toilet yet, but we'll get there. She likes her privacy too. She makes me close the door before she'll go pee. At first I thought she was doing that so she could cheat and just get more gum, but I can hear the tinkling from outside. Hooray!

I've always had a laidback approach to potty training and it seems to be working so far. We didn't push it on Jonah(it did take some Grandma magic to get him trained though) and we haven't pushed it on Lilly. I just figured that forcing it on them made them and me miserable, so why not wait until they are ready. Well, I think Lilly is finally ready!

THANKS UNCLE KALEB!!!

The kids and I had a fun afternoon today, thanks to my brother Kaleb. He came down and treated us to the new Monsters vs. Aliens movie complete with popcorn, soda, and plenty of goodies. We all really liked it. Some parts were a bit loud for the kiddos, but overall they had a great time with it. Then he came over and played Wii with the kids. After he left, Lilly said, "I wish Uncle Kaleb could live at our house so he could play with us all the time." True story.
So, Thanks Kaleb! We Love You!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Today is a VERY important day in Barnum history! On this day, the 25th of March, I don't know how many years ago, David Elwyn(I think) Barnum was born.

No one can count the number of lives this amazing man has touched.

We want to wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this fabulous Dad, Father-in-Law, and Grandpa!

We love you!

"Seriously Honey! You need to go to the doctor!"

SO, any of you who know my fabulous husband know that he doesn't go to the doctor. I've dragged him there a couple of times for really Serious stuff. But mostly that man is too stubborn. Well, last Thursday, on his first day back at work after our trip, Sweet Nate broke his pinky toe on his right foot. Now I KNOW that the doctor "can't do anything for a pinky toe" and "it would just be a waste of time", BUT I still think he should have gone to workmed. Since it happened AT work. That way at least it's documented in case there's some complication or something. Well, now it's Monday and Nate's still hobbling around and that poor toe has started to turn all kinds of beautiful colors. It's covered in fantastical shades of blue, green, purple, and even some black. So, will he go to the doctor now? Nope. Not a chance. Will he baby his toe and take it just LITTLE BIT easy at work? Yeah, right.
I sure am grateful to have such a hard working hubby. Here's hoping his toe doesn't fall off! Love you!

~~Our Trip to Las Vegas~~

We got home safe and sound from our trip to Las Vegas. I just thought I'd share some of what we did and a few pictures....

On the way to Vegas we stopped in St. George to visit with Nate's Grandpa & Grandma Barnum. It was great to visit with them. This was the first time they got to meet little Jayne. Her middle name is Roberta after Nate's Grandma. The kids enjoyed getting their wiggles out for a few minutes. We also took them over to the St. George temple and had a little picnic lunch that was interrupted by sprinklers. I was the only one who got wet. Nate grabbed all three kids in one swoop and had them on the sidewalk before a drop could hit them.

Nate drove me out to see the Hoover Dam. This picture is of a bridge that they're building over the dam so that there isn't so much traffic actually driving on the dam. I can't believe these construction workers! You couldn't pay me enough to get up there!

Here's another picture of the bridge. The archway will be under the road to support it.

We all went over to the Silverton Hotel and Casino and looked at their awesome tropical fish aquarium. The kids loved it! We also took them to the Bass Pro Shop that's attached to the Casino. It's kind of like Cabela's. They had waterfalls and huge tanks full of "ginormous" fish.

We got to see Tyler and Rebekka and Quinn. That kid is such a cutie! The kids had a great time playing with their cousin. Grandma and Aunt Emily put together a little treasure hunt for the kids on St Patrick's day. They got to follow the clues and find a pot of gold!

So, when all is said and done, we had a Fabulous trip! Thanks so much to Dad & Mom Barnum and Emily for making us feel so at home! And also thanks to Tyler and Rebekka for taking some time to visit with us. Oh! And Tyler took Nate out shooting, which I think I can safely say was the highlight of the trip for Nate. So, THANK YOU TYLER!!! We missed seeing Andrew and Lecia, but hopefully next time schedules will be more permitting. We miss you guys!

If you want to see more pictures of our trip (and there are some cute ones!) I'll put them in a new album on our shutterfly site and www.nabarnumfamily.shutterfly.com. You can get there by clicking on the picture of me and Nate on the right side of the blog.

We're Lovin' Las Vegas!/Happy Birthday Nate!

Well, we're finally here in

Las Vegas!

The drive actually went really well. All the kids were well behaved little angels, thanks to portable dvd players and new coloring books. This morning we went with Nate's parents to the Las Vegas Temple. I love that temple! There is such a special spirit there and the celestial room is so beautiful.

Also, today is Nate's 28th birthday. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!!

Movie Review : : Paul Blart Mall Cop: :

Last night, Nate and I went to see Paul Blart Mall Cop. Honestly, I wasn't really expecting much. We were late and missed the movie that I wanted to see. But, I LOVED this movie! We laughed like crazy! Paul Blart is a security guard at a mall who has been trying to become a State Trooper for years. His hypoglycemia keeps getting in the way. This character is such a loveable good-guy type that you just ache for him to succeed! On Black Friday, a group of thieves takes over the mall and forces all the people out except for six hostages, including his daughter and the woman he loves. Paul is unaware that this is happening and ends up inside the mall and has to find a way to save the day. So, if you want a movie that will make you laugh, go see Mall Cop! That's all I'm gonna say about that!