Flowers

The kids and I went to Lowe's today to get some flowers to plant in the front yard. This used to be so easy - I went and found what I liked and bought them. Now I have a two-year-old with strong floral opinions.

I made my first mistake when we pulled up into the parking lot. I thought I was making simple conversation.
Me: What color flowers do you think we ought to buy, Carter?
Carter: Let's buy pink flowers, Mommy.
Apparently this was not just small talk. It was a commitment. We got our cart and started looking.
Me: Do you like these flowers, Carter?
Carter: No, Mommy. I like pink flowers.
So I move on to some pink flowers.
Me: Here are some pink flowers, Carter! Aren't they pretty? Let's get these.
Carter: No, Mommy. I don't like them.
Me: Okay, how about these yellow flowers?
Carter: No, I don't like "lellow" flowers. I want pink.
I finally got him to agree to some red, yellow, and white flowers. But then he spotted it - his pink flower. It's a very small begonia.
Me: Should we get a tray of these?
Carter: No, just one, Mommy.
Me: You don't want to plant a bunch of pink flowers?
Carter: No, just one, Mommy.
I also bought him some sunflowers to grow from seeds. I want him to be able to actually see something grow out of the ground this summer. I'll have to find a spot in the back yard for his own sunflower garden. But this afternoon, we're going to go out after nap and plant a bunch of red, yellow, and white flowers - and one pink begonia.

Decisions, Decisions

Seth and I should really hire a travel agent. We are completely incapable of making a decision together. We've decided where we want to go (after much long, painstaking discussion), we've decided when we want to go (after changing our minds twice), so now all we need to do is choose our accommodations. Easy, right? HA! If I have to look at one more condo or cabin online, I'm going to be sick. We narrow it down - either this one or this one. Then right as we're about to book it, a new link catches our eye and we're off on a new search. Why can't we just pick one? They're all nice, and quite honestly, they all look a lot alike. But for some reason, we are just determined to get the absolute perfect cabin to suit our wants and needs.

Here's the sad part: Knowing us, we'll agonize over the decision for so long that when we decide we have finally found the perfect vacation spot, someone else will have already booked it. Then we'll have to start all over again. UGHH!

Other than that, we're doing great. Carter is wearing his big boy underwear all of the time now (except for when he's sleeping) and has had no accidents! I'm so proud of him! Miss Maggie is trying her hardest to roll over, but can only make it onto her side unless she's on a bit of an incline. But she's persistent - she'll get it. That's about it for us. I'm getting off the computer now, since I know we'll spend hours looking at cabins after Carter goes to bed tonight. We seriously just need to go to a travel agent and let them pick it for us. But first we'd have to pick a travel agent....oh, never mind, we'll just do it ourselves.

Finally Out of the House!

Ahhh! It felt so good to get out of the house with the kids today! Carter had his first diaper-free outing today and it went great. We went to the park to eat lunch and play and then to K-Mart. I was going to let Carter pick one new package of underwear, but he insisted that he needed Bob the Builder AND Cars underwear (not that he watches either of those, but he was adamant about it). So of course I caved in and let him have both. Anything for a little boy is three days accident-free!

I think my biggest battle scar from this week is that I can't stop singing the Potty Song now. If you've never watched Once Upon a Potty - don't!!! You'll never get that catchy little tune out of your head! "Now I'm going to my potty, potty. Yes I'm going to my potty, potty. Oh I'm going to my potty, potty now." That was for you, Birdie, in case you've been able to get it out of your head. Misery loves company. Carter could listen to it all day. I guess that's a good thing since I can't stop singing it. On that note, I'll stop for now. TTFN!

That's My Boy!

What a great potty day! (Yes, I know I'm fixated on this topic. That's all we've done for four days. I promise that next week I will branch out to other subjects.) Carter put on his big boy underwear this morning, and had the same pair on at bath time. That means that we had no accidents! We played outside, painted with watercolors, had company - all sorts of fun distracting things - and he still told me when he needed to go. I am just so proud of the little guy!
I'm hoping to get the house cleaned up and functional again now that I'm beginning to be able to trust Carter to tell me when he needs to potty and not have to follow him around all day and try to catch him before he goes. Tomorrow we're even going to try a trip to the park for a little while.
I'm keeping it short tonight. First, because I know you're all sick to death of the potty talk. Second, because Grey's Anatomy is on, and I'm going to sit and fold clothes and watch it. As our old pal Tigger says, TTFN!

Potty Training - Day Three

Scoreboard:
Pee-pee on the carpet - zero!!!!
Pee-pee in the potty - 7!!!!
Poo-poo in the potty - 1!!!
Displays of public nudity - 2 (Hey, I've got to let the kid go in the backyard and play a little!)
Hours spent in the bathroom - 8 or 9, with some breaks.
Incredible friend who spent the whole day in the bathroom with us - one very special Birdie!!

Many of you have called to ask why there was no update blog yesterday. There's one simple reason: Yesterday's potty training day was something that you are better off not knowing about. Seriously. I was ready to keep the kid in diapers till he was 20, but I got some much needed encouragement of support from many of you, and we continued on.

Today we had a potty party for Carter. We set up a laptop in the upstairs bathroom so he could watch movies on the potty. Then we brought in books, lots and lots of drink, and his favorite snacks. The theory was to make the bathroom a fun place and overload him with liquid all day, so he would need to go. It worked great. At first he would want to get up as soon as he felt the need to potty, but he got the hang of it quickly and got more and more cooperative. Tonight he actually ran in and sat on the potty and tee-teed on his own! He likes the potty so much now, that he told Seth that he had to potty tonight as an excuse to get out of going to bed!

Maggie has been the best easy-going baby on earth for the past three days. Today, it was so nice to have Heather here to help me with Carter and Maggie. I felt like Maggie didn't get ignored quite as much today! Thank you, thank you, thank you Heatherbird for making today so much better! I couldn't have done it without you. And yes, I fully expect you to keep a log of everything that you do to help me with my kids so I can repay you someday! You're the best!

Potty Training - Day One

Here's the score:
Pee-pee on the carpet - 3
Pee-pee in the potty (with Mommy snatching him up mid-stream and running to the potty) - 1
Displays of public nudity - 1 (at least it was on our own property)

Here's what I've learned today:
1. You can lead the boy to the potty, but you can't make him pee.
2. The bladder of a 2 year old can hold an amazing amount of urine before the child simply floods the house.
3. I enjoy the quality time I spent with Carter while he was sitting on the potty today. (No, seriously, part of it was fun!)
4. You should have no expectations for yourself domestically or socially speaking while you are potty training during the day.
5. Pep talks from your sister who has potty trained two kids by the age of two make you feel like you're doing the right thing and that you should trudge on!
6. If you're not leaving the house during the day, try to find a way to sneak out at night for a little bit. Which is what I'm about to do. "The Girls" (which is how Julie and Suz are referred to around here) are picking me up to take me to Starbucks for a bit.
So I'm keeping it relatively short tonight. Thank you - to my dear sweet hubby for actually encouraging my outing tonight- I needed this!

Big Boy Underwear

That's right, folks, tomorrow I'm putting Carter in big boy underwear in an attempt to begin potty training. He's out of Mother's Day Out for spring break this week, so that will give us five days at home to try. I am armed with potty chairs, toilet rings, carpet cleaner, and lots and lots of underwear. I won't lie to you - I am not the least bit looking forward to this. I have been given advice from mothers and grandmothers everywhere I go. "Let him aim at Cheerios." "Give him M&M's when he goes." "Give him a bath every time he has an accident." "Turn him around so he's straddling the potty, facing backwards." Apparently this mother learned the hard way what little boys are capable of doing to a bathroom when they miss. And my favorite so far was from the Walmart cashier tonight: "Just let him pee off of the porch. He'll think that's a hoot! Of course, you have to let him know he can't do this all of the time." Now is it just me, or does it not defeat the purpose of potty training if the potty is in no way involved?

Thus far, my strategy has been to go to church this morning and pray for a miracle. I've asked God to just let Carter wake up in the morning and say, "Momma, I'd like to use the potty now." Stranger things have happened. Okay, maybe not. But it's a fun idea anyway. Perhaps I should lower my expectations and pray for patience instead. And a sale on carpet cleaner. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

A Tornado in Our House

Yesterday was a big laundry day at our house. I am really good at washing and drying the clothes, but I hate to fold and put them away. So by yesterday afternoon, I had a pile of five loads of clean clothes laying in my living room floor. I finally decided it was time to get to work folding the clothes, and Carter decided to help. His method of helping is to pick up an item of clothing, throw it across the room, and yell, "Here you go, Momma!!" He really thinks he's helping, so I usually just let him do it until he starts going after the piles of folded clothes. Carter and "helped" me spread out the clothes ALL OVER the room so that it looked like a tornado had come through our house, when I realized I needed to get some dinner going. So I left the mess and went to the kitchen to put dinner on the stove. As soon as I got it going, I heard a knock at the door. I'm thinking, "Oh, I must have accidentally locked Seth out of the house." But no, it's my neighbors across the street (who have no children at home, and hence an immaculately clean house), coming over to deliver a baby present. I was mortified!!! I had to invite them in, but you literally had to trudge a path through the clothes (including our undies!!) to get to a chair.

Meanwhile, dinner is on the stove burning, and Carter is bringing them every toy he owns. Did I mention I had a hairdryer running in the living room because it was the only way Maggie would sleep that day? So Seth comes home in the middle of all of this chaos, and gives me the look of "Oh my, I can't believe the neighbors are seeing this!" But what can you do? Today I am sitting in a completely clean house with no laundry or toys out, but you can bet that I will have no company. They never come when it's clean!

Here we go....

Well, I'm going to attempt something new and start a blog for the family. I think it will be a nice way to keep everyone updated and to encourage me to keep a record of what's going on with the kids. Bear with me, I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet!

So here we go....
Carter is 2 years old now. He weighed 32 pounds at his 2 year appointment - exactly the same as he weighed at 18 months! He looks so tall and lean compared to his rolly-polly baby pictures! He's learning so much every day! He knows his shapes and colors now, and he can count to ten. He's also learning his letters. They're like little sponges at this age!

Maggie is almost 11 weeks old. She weighed 13 pounds, 4 ounces at her 2 month appointment, so she's not going to be our petite baby either! She's smiling and cooing, and her favorite person to smile at is Carter. Yesterday she rolled over onto her tummy while we were outside. She was on a bit of an incline, so it doesn't officially count, but I was excited anyway.

As for the rest of us, Seth is busy working, but has gotten to meet us at the park for lunch this week. He got home in time for us to all go for a walk together last night. He put Carter in the wagon and I put Mags in the Baby Bjorn.

I'm staying busy with the kids, and I'm sewing like crazy trying to get their summer wardrobes done. Sewing for a girl is so much fun! I'll stop for now. Hope I'm not boring you all to death!