We are on attempt #4 of potty training and I think we are committed this time. Of course, Max could always throw me another curve ball but I'm feeling pretty confident that we are on the right course and that no illnesses will suddenly appear tomorrow. We had 6 accidents today, 4 of which happened within 15 minutes of coming off the potty, which was really mind boggling, but we also had 2.5 successes so I'll take that and be happy. (I count one as only a half because he peed on the floor in front of his potty.)

I'm still very confused as to what is the normal amount of time to have him sit on his potty. We don't have the problem where Max doesn't like to sit on it, we have the problem that he'll sit there for over an hour before he finally goes. Yes, you heard me right, I had Max sitting on the potty for over an hour. He likes sitting in the bathroom and getting all the attention. If he gets upset, I try to defuse the situation or let him get up and walk around the bathroom for a while and he'd eventually return to sitting down on his own. Two times I eventually made him get up and put his underwear on only to have him have an accident shortly after - so I don't know if I should just have him sit there as long as he is happy or if I am doing it right. Accidents aren't a big deal, I know he is learning and to expect them, I just wish I knew how long he should be sitting for so as to not hinder his progress.

I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings. Any advice?

All this rain has put me in a bit of a depressing mood. So I'm going to try to remedy that. I wasn't planning to post this yet but thought it might help cheer me up.

I've been walking for MS now for four years. It is a very exciting fundraiser for me as one of my best friend's family has been directly affected by MS and I've been fortunate enough to have amazing family and friends support me in my fundraising efforts. The walk is in May and I'm looking forward to not only walking, I'm also looking forward to a new tradition of having both Max and Rory walking with me. Hopefully after many years they too will decide to support this organization or other organizations they feel strongly about!

If you'd like to help me reach my goal of $500 please click the link to go to my fundraising page:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/acochran

I'll be sending out my usual email in the next week and that will have my mailing address for those of you that would prefer to mail me a check instead of entering in a credit card online. Feel free to email me if you'd like my address.

As most of you know, my goal is to get 50 people to donate $10 to reach my goal. If you would like to donate a different amount, please do, anything will help!

I'm already feeling better, nothing like raising money for a good cause to scare away those rain clouds!

We had physical therapy for Rory yesterday and I received great news. We have one more appointment scheduled for next month and if all goes well we can be done! Rory is able to move and turn her head just great, now we just need to her to get the proper alignment on her head so that she holds it straight up instead of slightly tilted as witnessed in this picture:

I was trying to get a picture of her pushing her body up as she now locks her arms, but of course with Max around she just wants to watch him and giggle. I did get this cute picture of the two of them in their track suits.

Hopefully we can get Rory to keep her head straight up so that by next month we can be done with therapy. Between daycare and Dusty and I, we'll be working on those exercises. Wish us luck!

Sunday I took the kids to Como Zoo. I don't know why I never thought to go to the zoo while it was cold before, it was really one of the best trips to the zoo I've ever taken. It wasn't crowded and since most of the animals are indoors it was much easier to see and interact with them. Max was able to high five monkeys through the glass, the giraffe's were eating right in front of us and the Lion and Lioness where chasing each other around and batting at each other's faces. Ok, that last one was really just a chance thing and nothing to do with winter, but it was seriously one of more favorite trips to the zoo.

To top it off, we met up with up with Kristen and her boys, Jackson and Tyler, and Auntie Ta-Ta also joined us so it was a very fun day to watch the kids enjoy all the views and catch up with everything that has been going on in our lives. I forgot my camera (I know, I know...) but thankfully Kristen sent me some pictures to use for my blog.

Here are Jackson and Max checking out the waterfall in the rainforest part. It was way to hot and humid for our winter clothed selves but we were able to lose a few layers to enjoy it.

Rory was getting her flirt on with Tyler. Yeah, she's going to be very well rehearsed at getting boys to do whatever she wishes.

Here are the four kiddos. I love that Rory stands out in this sea of boys. From left to right (Max, 22 months; Rory, 5 months; Tyler, 13 months; Jackson, 3 years.

Here's a cute picture of Tara and I with Max and Rory. It was nice to have Tara there to help, I was able to let Max walk around with Tara there to chase after him. Of course, she did decide to help him throw snowballs, that naughty Auntie Ta-Ta.

Of course, we never thought to get a picture of all the adults or even our whole group. I guess we'll just have to schedule another visit to the zoo so we can get that picture taken!

If you remember, Uncle Randy and Auntie Andrea got Max a blowup swimming pool and also 400 colorful balls that could be used in it during the winter. Unfortunately, getting to the air compressor is just too much work in the winter so we haven't blown up the pool. Dusty and I ordered a Blu-Ray player and this gigantic box came. Max was having fun playing in it and I got this amazing idea...

I've only got 200 of the 400 balls in the box, but it sufficed. Max thinks it is awful fun to jump into and then he shakes his arms and legs all over to knock as many of the balls out that he can. It's pretty cute and not that big of a mess to pick up. Plus, he usually wants to get out and sing the "clean up" song anyway; so I'm not left cleaning them all up myself. I did try putting Rory in there too but as you can tell by the picture she didn't really know what to make of all the balls.

So this was our excitement for Saturday. We also did spend some time outside and made sure to get in some extra long naps. Now I just have to wait for Max to get bored with this new toy and then I'll put it all away.

The New Richmond News newspaper has an article about me winning the Parent of the Month for February. I was a bit misquoted and the print version has the photo captioning me as Parent of the Year which is obviously wrong but I'm going to claim now that it is in print.

Here's the online article if you're interested. The photo isn't captioned there and it is also smaller then the print version.

http://www.newrichmond-news.com/event/article/id/28643/

I guess I'll have to find a way to display both the articles to remind myself that at least for one month (or year if you believe the photo caption in the newspaper) I was the number one parent!

Rory has surprised me so much in the past week that I just had to share our new developments. Mom and Dad are still very special people to her but Max has become her object of affection. On Saturday morning Rory woke up before Max did which is very rare. While I was feeding her a bottle Max woke up. So I took Rory and popped her head in the door while I stood in the hall and said "Hello brother". Max thought this was pretty funny and chuckled but it was dark in his room and I don't think Rory got a good look at Max.

I was holding Rory against my chest and Max wanted to be picked up and held too. So there I am holding both my babies soaking it all in knowing this won't last forever. Rory turned her head and as soon as she realized that Max was right next to her she started squealing and jerking with excitement. By jerking, I literally mean her head is flying all over the place, she is arching her back, and she keeps trying to "touch" Max but her coordination is still a bit off so her hand is flying all over my chest and Max's body. Also, she has the biggest grin I've ever seen on her. Needless to say my enjoyment of holding my babies turned into a slight panic as Rory was squirming out of my arms but I got everyone down on the floor where Rory proceeded to squeal and laugh at Max. It was seriously an amazing moment.

Last night Max and Rory were getting their evening baths and Max started saying his animal noises. (The kid is seriously amazing when it comes to remembering what each animal says.) This isn't anything new as he loves this game but for some reason Rory was really getting a kick out of it so I decided to change it up. I told Max to tell Rory what the cow says and he turned to Rory and Mooed really loudly in her face. She started giggling and squealing instantly. So we continued with all the animals and got giggles out of almost all of them from Rory. Max knew he was doing something funny and kept getting louder at Rory and then looking to see that I laughed too. I was really disappointed that my camera wasn't back from Canon yet so I could record it all. Oh well, just one of those memories that will have to stay locked in my brain forever.

Rory started daycare this week and just like her brother she has fallen instantly in love with everyone there. Of course, they all seem to be wrapped around her little finger so how could she not love it? Today on our drive in to work I put on some music and was singing and Max was "singing" too. (He says mom over and over again in a singsong voice and thinks he is singing to the song, it is our usual morning routine.) Then I hear some chattering and I assumed it was Max just doing his gibberish. After a little while I hear the chattering and the "mom" singing and realize that Rory is attempting to sing with us! Pretty soon we're going to be like the Von Trapp family, well minus about 4 other kids!

I'm so glad we have two kids. It's exhausting and things are definitely not easier with two, but these moments wouldn't have happened if they both weren't there to make them.