Don't Call C.P.S.

Okay, some of you may know this, but for those of you who don't: We love to fool with Morgan.

She is just so cute and so little and so agreeable and she lets us do fun stuff to her like this:

Yes, that is a real little wooden doll bed at MiMi's house. Hilarious.

And she lets Olivia do this:

Yes, that is a little plastic doll stroller. Yes, she is busting out of it.

(And yes, I am yelling, "Hold her head! Hold her head!")

And best of all, today, she let us do this:

Come on- if you are going to put on a little Build-A-Bear Workshop top hat, you MUST have a little "moo-stache" to go with it. (And, yes, I almost peed my pants!)

Then OF COURSE, everyone wanted in on the fun: (Have I mentioned that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent picture of all three of them at the same time???)

So Until Next Time...

Doesn't she look like a teeny-tiny Danny DeVito??? Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

7 Hours for 7 Minutes

So, believe it or not (and for ALL of you who know ME, this will be a SHOCKER!):

I cooked Thanksgiving Dinner.

And it rocked.

Yes, I did start this huge project at 12:oo yesterday afternoon. And yes, I did have an "Oh, shit!" moment when I realized I do only have ONE oven to cook FOUR different things at different temperatures at the same time in. And yes, I had a nightmare last night about having to make Martha's FAMOUS cornbread stuffing. But! I tackled the challenge and we feasted til we were all sick.

Olivia: Whoa, this feast was too "feasty"!

This is how it went down:

Olivia and I made Martha's dressing ahead of time last night. I will admit to you all that I cheated (just a little.) I used pre-made cornbread crumbs- BUT! Miss O and I dried out and crumbled a million pieces of white bread on the cheese grater with our own bare hands!

Me: Come on, look at us! Who needs a stinkin' Cuisanart?!

Olivia: Us.

Any way!, I seasoned it and seasoned it and seasoned it til it smelled right and low and behold, minus a few texture issues, it tasted almost just like Marta's!!! Jon and Jen had come over with Bryant, so I made the boys taste test it, and I got two thumbs up! Woo-hoo!! I had started working on defrosting out sweet little turkey breast at 8am this morning, and he was in the oven all basted and seasoned by 11. Yes, the Clorox Queen was in the house, and I washed, cleaned and sanitized about a million times thanks to to my little friends here:

To my own credit, I did not poison anyone (although I no longer have skin on my hands.) While I was working on the bird, Jas and the kids went out front and raked the ka-gillion leaves that were covering our yard. My Mini-Martha Stewart came in with her pockets full of acorns and asked me for a clear container as she had decided that she wanted to make a festive centerpiece. Alas, I didn't have one, so we settled for a platter. She added leaves, I added a candle and voila! Look how cute!

So for the next four hours, I followed my Type A food prep plan:

And had everything come out of the oven at the EXACT same time, just as the turkey was ready to be carved. Finally, it was time to eat! I tested the temp of the turkey with my new handy-dandy food thermometer, and it was d-o-n-e. So of course, after 4 hours of basting every 40 minutes, making sure his little foil tent was positioned "just so", I HAD to taste the bird to see if it was okay. All morning long, I had visions of the Grizwald's Christmas turkey that Clark cuts into and it busts open and deflates. But, oh. my. gosh. It was deeee-lish! I couldn't believe it! Jas couldn't either! We got so excited to eat, seeing as how everything was actually turning out okay. Jas had bought sparkling grape juice for Olivia as a joke. (She's always trying to be "grown up" and she thought it was FABULOUS! I know, I know...probably shouldn't be encouraging underage drinking...) Anyway, we all sat down to eat and some of us couldn't wait to dig in (Luke was finished eating his meal of 3 bites by the time I sat down). I do think the grape juice got to her head because soon O and Jas started making McDonald-esque "Thanksgiving Biscuits" which they thought was hil-ar-ious. Nice.
Don't be alarmed, but while we were stuffing ourselves silly, we were mugged by a very short person who's not really into eating at the moment.


Lucky for him, he was also a Cowboys fan. After we were done, (7 minutes after we sat down) the kids sat with Jas and watched the game, I cleaned up the kitchen, went upstairs and passed out snuggled with Morgan watching House Hunters. Who knew cooking was so damn tiring??

I am so thankful for all of the many blessings that I have received in my life, and I am SO glad that one of the best gifts asked me to stay in town this year so we could have a little Yarbrough family Thanksgiving together. It was so sweet and fun. Might even do it again.

Sneak Peek

Brandi posted some of the pictures from the kids' shoot. Run over and sneak a peek- they are towards the bottom. Can't wait to get the whole CD!!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!

Ode To Gymboree

Inspired by a post on A Soft Place To Land, I have also decided to pay homage to one of my favorite things on the planet....

Oh my darling, Gymboree. How I love thee.

I love your rows and rows of adorable clothing, that I hardly ever actually purchase in your store. How I love your line names like, "Lemony Fresh","Fiesta Del Sol" and "Hide N Seek".Oh, I wait with bated breath, while I search racks and racks, and make saved searches on eBay to find the shirt to go with the boots that match the sweater I bought because I found the hair clips on sale. I adore your shoes, that are not meant to be worn by little feet.What a thrill it gives me to know that I can dress my two girls in coordinating outfits as long as they will let me, or until Olivia is a size 12, whichever comes first. How thoughtful you are to use the same Mystic Blue in your Tutti Fruity and Pool Party lines, so the M2M flip flops I had looked adorable with both. You are too kind.
Your sales and promises of Gymbucks call to me from afar, but I must resist. Your embellished sweaters make my heart flutter. Your decorative tights make me swoon. Why must you tempt me with umbrellas and tote bags, too?


Most of all my darling Gymboree, I love that you will be passed along and shared between my dearest friend who can also pick out one of your pieces being worn by a child on the front row of story time at the library. (wink)

FryDay Contest

I haven't won something fabulous since I won Whitney Houston tickets back in the 5th grade, so I figure I can't loose...

I have been reading the My Charming Kids blog ever since I saw the link on Stacie's blog months ago, and became totally in awe of this whole family! Adorable kids, precious parents, and a faith that is inspiring. Everytime I think I might run out of the house from the chaos of out three kids, I think: "I don't have 4 under 4. Take a deep breath and say a little prayer for patience. You can handle this- she does it everyday."

Now MckMama is trying to raise money for a great organization, so she is asking her readers to drum up some "hype" and who doesn't love a little hype!? She's holding a contest, and all I had to do to enter was write this post, so.. couldn't hurt right??

Run over and check her out. She's a doll.

"Can I Confuse Him? Yes, I can!"

This conversation just took place:

Bubs: Mommmmyyyy, I wanna watch Bob!

Me: Luke, come on. I just turned it off because you weren't watching it.

Bubs: Pleeeease, Mommy, please. 'Ask naaahce-ly'. (He thinks if he says, "Ask nicely" while doing a slo-mo version of the sign for "please" he will get whatever he wants.)

Me: I put it on and you went to go play. I am not putting it on again. No. I said "no."

Bubs: I SAID YES!

Me: Whooa- watch it mister. Do you want Time Out?

Bubs: ISAAAAIIIDDYESSSS! WannawatchBaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaab!
(Throws the CD case on the floor)

Me: Luke, you better watch it!

Bubs: Yes, Mommy, yes! (read: " You stupid woman!") I wanna watch Bob!

Ugh.

And I Would Know You Froommm....

I don't think my son knows who his parents are. We are supposed to be the MOST important people in his life, by his little side from the moment he was born, we've kissed his boo-boos, dried his tears, clothed and fed him for Pete's sake, and this is what we get???

Yesterday Jas was reading a new book he had bought at the book fair with O to Luke and I (more on that book later) and when he came upon this page:

Bubs say, "Oh, look! There you are, Daddy!" We were both like, "Uh, where?" and who does he point out??? This guy:

WHAT?!?! The balding, caterpillar eyebrowed, too much chest-haired, Tony Soprano-y guy??? Needless to say, Jas was confused, seeing as how he looks like this: AND THEN! Today, I am putting away laundry, therefore giving Bubs plenty of time to get into something, which happened to be the magazines in my nightstand. There was a copy of the Frisco Image, which he started thumbing through. I am in the closet and...

Bubs: "There you are Mommy!"

Me: "Yes, I'm still up here. I'm in the closet." (Silly me, I think he's checking on where I am!"

Bubs: "No, you're heee-re! Right here! Look!"

I come out and he is pointing to a picture in the magazine.

Bubs: "You eating Staabucks!" (And, yes, while I do enjoy my Iced Venti Non-fat Caramel Macchiatos...)THIS IS NOT ME!!!: I am his MOTHER! And he doesn' know what I look like?!!? I told him it was not me(!) and he insisted that it was, so I asked him who I was sitting with then and he said, "Uuuuuhhhh..." (thinking)"...not Daddy."

Got that right.

On a S.D.P. Note: He has gone to the bathroom 5 times today- 3 of which were self-initiated! I think we had our Helen Keller "w-a-t-e-r" moment the other day, and he's finally getting it. Not to mention all of the Scooby-Doo fruit snacks he's been getting as treats when he goes. (They are turning his poo a weird color, but at least that poo is in the pot-ty!) "Whoo-ray" as he would say.

HOLY CRAP!

...or should I say, "Pee!"

HE DID IT!!!!

(Due to the PG rating of this blog, I instructed him to "hide your peepee". Nice job, Bubs.)

Finally, after 2 frickin'frackin' weeks of sitting, pleading, reading, singing, talking, waiting, yelling, reading, waiting, coaxing, crying, bribeing, and, oh yes!, more singing- He peepeed in the potty this morning! Because I know you all want the glorious details:

I went to change his diaper while getting him dressed for the day and noticed he was dry. He had had breakfast a while before which included his junkie-ration of at least 2 full cups of BunnyWhop- so I knew, KNEW! there was pee in there somewhere. So I told him to run go sit on the potty (which is why he's naked- I never finished dressing him.) Well, he read a while. Nothing. We sang a while. Nothing. So I told him to stay here while I went to refill my cup of coffee. No sooner had I stepped into the kitchen then he yell, "I peed! The potty sang song to me!!!" (The little potty makes this majestic-trumpeting sound: "DautDautDahDaaaaaaaaaa" when water hits the sensors in the bottom- which, as I'm writing this, has me crying laughing at how silly that is! But anyway...) So I run in there and SURE ENOUGH! The little blue bowl thing is full of pee. "Look, Mommy- Its geen!" he say, so proud that his pee apears to be a different color than all of ours! I clapped, I cried, we high-fived.

It was MARVELOUS! It was FANTASTIC! He hasn't done it since.

Fab Five Friday

1. I finally finished my website!!!! Now I can start sending out samples and have somewhere for people to go shop around and place orders!!! I hope to get this little ball rolling again- had to start with just the things I've already done, but hope by the first of the year I can add more categories! YEA! (If you need cute Teacher's gifts for Christmas...)

2.Morgan found her feet! Is there anything cuter than a baby all rolly-polly on thier back while holding thier feet??? I think not.
3.We found a great photographer, Brandi Fornoff, and had a wonderful time at the Arboretum having the kids' pictures made! As soon as we get the proofs, I'll post some. 4. Romo, our puppy, has proven himself to be the most patient dog on the planet. I have always ben fearful of dog and kids, but poor Mo lets Luke do ANYTHING to him and just sits there. They are true buddies. "I wub you, Moey Dog".

Who has let Luke bury him under throw pillows and his Bunny???

It's Mo!!!!!

(If you look close in the background picture of Morgan, you'll notice sweet Mo just walking around wearing Luke's Bunny !)

5. We have made (minor) Potty Progress this week. I found that if I give him an endless supply of books, he will sit on the potty forever. He won't go...but at least he'll sit there...

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself...

I was making a late-night trip last week up to the store for diapers, toothpaste- all the glamorous things we are always running out of, and happened to catch the tail-end of a Christian talk radio program about raising children in today's society. The host closed his show with a prayer that had been read in the Kansas House back in 1996, and it was one of those moments where I wish I could have rewound (sp?) the radio. Everything he was saying is how I am feeling about America at the moment- and wishing that, for my kids' sake, will change some day. (Ahhhhhhh, did I just say, "Change"?!? ) I was Googling today, and remembered that I had wanted to look it up to see if I could find it and sure enough- it popped right up. After reading it, I realize the lines I liked the best were:...

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare; ...We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; ...

Miss O knew how strongly Jason and I felt about John McCain, it was almost like in the movie Stepmom were the little boys tell Susan Sarandon about Julie Roberts character: "Mommy, if you want me to hate her I will." So when last Wednesday morning came and we told her the results of the election, I then had to turn around and explain to her that even though I am not fond of Sen. Obama, it is our job to say prayers for him: to keep him safe and hope that he will make the right choices for our country. She got it, of course. That prayer just hit so close to home after the election, but as the end of it reads:

Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here... Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will...

I just hope that happens.

Not Me Monday!

Is it "Not Me!" Monday again already!???

I did not go a little nutty over having the kids pictures made. I did not inspect every inch of them while giving them baths 10 minutes before we walked out the door - so no one would have time to get dirty-to be sure there was no trace of old rub-on tatoos, not one hang nail, not one split end that might sneak its way onto this precious film. After I got him dressed, Luke did not promptly find a cup of BunnyWhop and spill it all over himself.

I did not secretly enjoy this day of pain for Jason because he wasn't so darn cute all hopped up on drugs after he didn't have a molar pulled this morning. He did not say drug-induced silly things like, "Morgan, you look like a little Thanksgiving turkey." or "Oh, look a Disney movie is coming on the Disney channel."

I did not tell Luke after he had done something fabulous that he was a "Genius!" He did not reply, "I'm not genius, I'm a pooper."

I did not slack off on dinner for the second night in a row, and serve my entire family DIFFERENT Weight Watcher microwave meals at 4 minute increments. I did not serve them in real bowls to try to make myself not feel like such a terrible mom.

I did not have a little mini-bratty-fit while trying to watch Designed To Sell, when Luke came in demanding to watch "TomenJeawry" right as they were about to do the big reveal. He did not proceed to throw an all out fit to which I did not have the energy at that point to fight. I did not walk out of the living room saying, "Why don't I never get to watch my stinkin' shows?!" under my breath only to over hear Luke say to himself, "I watch my 'tinker show now." Ugh.



I did not have a conversation with Jas last night about going to sign up at the gym while sharing a pint of good ole Blue Bell ice cream while sitting on the couch watching Entourage. I did not get geekily excited when the hall tree we have was in the background shot of the cabin they are all staying in while Vince is filming.


I did not seriously discuss with Olivia the possibility of a vet hospital near our house being so fancy because it was built just for poodles. We did not later decide it must be so nice because its for mommy dogs who want a pretty place to have thier puppies. I did not drive the rest of the way home with the biggest, silliest smile on my face. It was not put there by Olivia's sheer adorable-ness.

I did not accidently steal one of the bows from our photographer that she had let Olivia borrow. I did not promise to put it in the mail today, but not only before I didn't take hilarious pictures of Morgan. Jas did not comment that she looked like she should be in the Moulan Rouge movie. He is not so funny and high as a kite.

Morgan Jane did not not know what was happening to her...

Morgan Jane was not scared that she was unable to move her head under the weight of this huge ass bow...

Morgan Jane was not so happy when I took it off her...

Pray For Us

We are having the kids long-awaited photo session tomorrow. Please say a mini prayer that:
-The weather is nice since we are going to the Arboretum
-Everyone behaves themselves as much as they are age-appropriately capable of
-No more teeth are knocked out in the next 19 hours
-Morgan doesn't yack all over the poor lady
-Luke doesn't say anything that he might have overheard me say, maybe, say, when I happen to spill coffee on myself...
-We don't get busted for bringing in tons of changes of clothes
-They turn out great, or none of you are getting Christmas cards...wink.

Fab Five Friday

Totally inspired by "Not Me Mondays", I have decided to create a day devoted to the things that did happen (ha!) and were fabulous- a gratitude journal of sorts (minus the Oprah!)...While we are SO blessed and great things happen everyday, this list could go on forever, so for the sake of a cute alliteration title, I am limiting it to 5:

1. While eating at Scotty P's Burgers, I look over to see Jas coloring on Luke's coloring page. This is what I saw:

Jason writing all fancy! So maybe I've rubbed off on him more than he ever let on: FABULOUS! 2. After a yummy lunch of hot dogs, cheese slices and diced apples, I ask Bubs to please put his plate in the sink for me. I hear him rattling around in the kitchen talking to himself and when I come in to see exactly what he's up to, I find him scraping his leftovers in Romo's bowl. "I give him a treat," he says. Luke is becoming very thoughtful, even to the dog: FABULOUS! 3. My precious O has braved her very real fear of showers, and has taken one every night this week. After I talked to her about how it was wearing me out (and hurting my brain) trying to figure out how to juggle feeding, bathing, jammy-ing and reading to all three of them every night on my own, She agreed that she was big enough to handle it and hasn't complained about it once. 'Even caught her singing in there: FABULOUS! 4. Morgan found her voice! She has started doing that great baby cooing/yodeling/screeching thing and even laughs at herself when she really gets going loud. She gave us concert the other night at 3:30am after I had fed her and put her back down, normally we would have minded, seeing as how it was 3:30am, but I lay there and enjoyed this "Last Baby Growing Up Milestone" moment : FABULOUS! 5.Our precious friends the Andersons came over and played this afternoon. We missed them all so much while we were gone! There is nothing I love more than visiting with friends, and today everyone got along and played so nicely, I hated to see them go! But seeing them and catching up was FABULOUS!

Two Naughty

"Two-year-olds like to be independent! Favorite words are "Mine" and "No" and "I do it!" Emotions take on a roller coaster-like quality as 2-year-olds can go from excitement to anger to laughter within a few moments. A great deal of time is spent exploring, pushing, pulling, filling, dumping, and touching". -Lesia Oesterreich, M.S. Family Life Extension Specialist Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University

Ahhhh, two year olds. For those of you who don't know: Olivia was a freak of nature. She was never "Two". She was always so sweet, a joy to be around, behaved, listened, understood and followed(!) rules. If I told her to stand right where she was in the store, she would stand so nice and quietly that I had been known to start to walk away and forget for a second she was there! If I told her not to eat crayons, put stickers on anything but paper, put her toys away- she did it and never questioned why, never tried to test me, just went with the flow. It was lovely. I did not have a true toddler experience. And then Luke came.


WHAT?!?! Two year olds don't listen?? Two year olds get into things like tampons, toothpaste and toilet paper?? They can hide under, climb up and jump off anything in the blink of an eye?? They yell things like, "Nooooooooooo, Meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" while falling to the floor because you, not them, screwed on the lid to their sippy cup?? I have been freaking out about these things for the last few month and asking , "why???", only to have my mother repeat, "I don't know, because he's 2 perhaps!?"

So was it any surprise yesterday when Lysh came over with Hannah for a lovely morning of coffee-drinking-baby-holding-laundry- folding-company, that the two little Twos disappeared into Luke's room to "play" and weren't heard from for quite sometime, that, of course, they were up to SOMETHING???...(Note to any new Mommies out there: Silence Is NOT Golden!!) We had been enjoying this lovely peace and quiet while we chatted, and then all of a sudden we hear Luke burst out laughing, in that body-shaking, face-scrunched, makes you laugh too kind of way. And then its quiet. And then we hear Hannah burst out laughing in the same way. Quiet again. We looked at each other with that, "Oh, shit!!!" look and started to run back to his room, only to both stop in the entry way and say, "Get your camera!" because we knew we were about to bust in on a Two Moment. This is what we saw:

NOT ONLY, had they taken EVERY book off of Luke's shelves, they had gotten out all of his cars, trains, Little People, blocks, musical instruments- and when that hadn't satisfied their Two Year Old quest for fun...they found the Play-Doh! I had gotten it out earlier and had them all set up at the kitchen table, but when they had lost interest in it, I had shoo-ed them back to Luke's room, putting the bucket back in the toy room without even thinking- it is usually put up in my craft closet, so things like this DON'T HAPPEN! Well- want to know what they had been doing, that they thought was HIL-AR-I-OUS??? Each had their own little yellow Playdoh container and were taking turns using plastic knifes and forks flicking chunks of Plahdoh out into the air (read: all over the carpet!) Why is this so frickin' funny, you ask??? Because they are Two! Do you not love the "Oh, shit!" looks on their faces?? Love it. And them.

(And per Hasbro.com's FAQ regarding getting Playdoh out of the carpet, I let it dry completely, used a stiff brush to lossen and vacuumed. Viola! At least I know our children are not the first to go a little nutty with the 'doh.)

Happy Things

Because I am totally freaking out about Obama's win last night, I have taken time this morning to appreciate the things in my life that make me happy:

My Breakfast Of Champions

Please do not think I am looney- OCD, but I have honestly eaten the same breakfast everyday for the past 6 years. I wake up in the morning and can't WAIT to have a hot cup of coffee and a chocolate granola breakfast bar. They are like gold to me. I have a hard time having one without the other. My children know not to eat them. Jason knows EXACTLY which kind to buy. I even pack them and bring them with me if I travel somewhere- because they make me happy.

Olivia's Desire To Have A New Name

Jason and I found this written on our deck last night. I have been finding pieces of paper in her room from when she's been "playing school" and noticed that she had been signing things, "Kim Yarbrough" or "Olivia Rose" and just thought it was cute. Seems like last night she decided to finally leave us a huge hint about things she would have preferred we had named her:

1. Olivia Elle Yarbrough (at least she put that first! Not much she can do about it for another 12 years)

2. Kim Roes (Rose) Huchen (this morning it hit me that Huchen must be
for Vanessa Anne Hutchens of HSM fame- So funny!)

3. Stace (Stacy, Stacie...) Hart (Heart) Huchen

(Not sure about the hieroglyphs drawings at the bottom yet though...) Seriously, she is so sweet and funny... At least she didn't put anything like Candy or Bliss- that made me happy.

Luke Singing

This is a new thing. He LOVES to be sung too, and I hear him singing little songs to himself when he's playing in his room, or looking out the window in the car. This is him singing his new favorite song, that I now almost regret ever singing to him in the first place: The Super Duper Pooper Song. Lyrics (the Yarbrough version) are as follows:

"He's A Super Duper Pooper

He Goes Potty Like The Rest

No More Diapers In His Way

He Likes Undies The Best- Yea!"

While the choice of song is not my favorite, his little lisp-y voice is- and that makes me happy.

Sewing

I made these four pillows for our couch last night. I am starting to get addicted. The fact that I am able make almost whatever I can think up is kinda fun. I am getting a little better with each project (Put a little fringe detail on two of these throws- watchout!) Jason hates the orange pillows- but they make me happy. (So they're staying.)

Clockwork Napper

I love that Morgan goes to sleep for her early morning nap one hour and fifteen minutes after she has woken up- regardless of what time that was. I think its hilarious. There is like this little tiny clock inside of her and if she wakes up at 7 with me, she is back asleep at 8:15am either on her play mat, in the swing or in the car seat. I finally saw this pattern this week, so I have been putting her back in her crib and she been sleeping better and longer- and that makes me happy.

Just one thing to do today...

VOTE!!!

I'm Anne Yarbrough, and I approve this post.

Not Me Monday

Potty Time!

I would not decide to pick a random day out of the air and decide it was time to start potty-training Luke- full force. I did not pick yesterday.

I did not have a sad Come To Jesus moment with myself when I realized I really had no part in potty-training Olivia, and really had no idea what I was doing- Come on, Mommies just know these things! I did not doubt my patience with the whole process and consider going back to work full time just long enough to have someone else do it for me.

I did not make Jason take us both to Target where I did not proceed to let let Luke pick out every package of undies with characters on them that he knew, hoping they would be modivation. Because it couldn't be that many, could it? Oh...just Mickey Mouse and Goofy and Donald and Handy Manny and Elmo and Big Bird and Ernie and Lightening McQueen and Mator and Thomas the Train and Duncan and Percy and James... He doesn't know every character ever created by Disney, PBS, Noggin, Nick Jr. or Sprouts because he doesn't watch that much TV...

I did not have a BIG 2-Year-Old dicussion with Luke about why we do not pee pee on Mickey Mouse because he would never pee pee on us. That's just plain silly.

I did not sing 18 rounds of "Bringin' Home A Baby Bumble Bee", "10 Little Indians" and various other kid songs just to keep him on the potty, only to finally let him get up and have him go 2 minutes later. (From his room: "Oh, no! I tee-teed on Thomas!") Damn. I did not continue to be about 5 mintues behind the pee all day.

I did not feel totally discourage and I did not sit at the computer and read every article I could pull up about potty-training during the two hours of naptime, only to be more confused than ever about what I SHOULD be doing. I did not almost cry.

I did not do a little ghett0-rigging, and let him wear his undies under a diaper after we had been through 20 pairs by 3pm. That would be giving up a little too soon, and I am NOT a quitter.

I did not feel totally suckered when he came running to me in the late afternoon and asked to sit on the potty. I did not run with him excitedly to the bathroom like a fool. I didn't think "Yea!! This is it- He's getting it!!!" only to then have him ask me to sing the "Super Duper Pooper" song to him and once I was finished, he did not hop off the potty as if it was the place where he only sits so I will sing silly songs to him. I have not accidently turned the bathroom into our own little version of Kindermusik.

I did not think that maybe I am a total Potty Training failure, when at the end of the day the score was: PeePee in the Potty- 0, PeePee In the Undies- 8.

I did not let him wear a diaper today while I regrouped and came up with Plan B. I am not thinking this might have been a bad idea. I do not keep repeating to myself like Rain Man, "Everyone goes to college potty-trained, everyone goes to college potty-trained"....

Halloween Hangover

What a day Friday was! Alyshia and I tried to re-create the fabulously fun time we had last year taking Luke and Hannah to the Arboretum and getting some cute Fall pics and them letting them put on their costumes and run around. HA! There is a BIG difference between sweet up-for-whatever 16 month olds and my-way-or-the-highway 2 year olds! Luke was a TOOT! He didn't want to sit still for photos, wouldn't cooperate when I tried to get pics of him and Morgan and acted like a total pain in my tushy when I finally put is costume on him (See pic with his EYES closed- on PURPOSE! Aghahagh!!!!) Its partially my fault because I told him we were going to the "big park", so the whole time we were there he kept saying. "Go find the park, Mama. Wanna play at the big park!"- I'm sure he kept thinking swings and slides were right around the corner and then finally figured out he had been duped. No amount of bribery would work, so I finally gave up, and he disrobed in the cute little castle-ly like garden where they took SO many sweet pictures last year. Damn. Morgan on the other hand was a doll and smiled and loved it all. It was so nice to be outside and we had a little picnic and everything, so Lysh and I have decided that next Friday we will come back with and bring balls and bubbles and NO expectations! Ha!
So after that exhausting morning, I had to come home, run to the store to buy candy and some last minute costume items for O and then had to rush to pick her up from school. I spent the next hour finishing every one's costumes and then I was delirious. I finally had to lay down at 4:30pm and bribed Olivia to please keep everyone happy for 30 minutes while I shut my eyes on the couch and they all watched Tinkerbell. A nice cold shower to wake me up at 5pm and then we were off to Mimi and G-Daddys to get everyone ready. Uncle Trav was there getting ready to move (Sad face.) But he made them practice going to the door and saying "trick or treat" until they did it just right, which was fun... Jas met us after work and we headed to the Fraziers for a mini- Kindergarten Girlfriends reunion and the trick-or-treating began. The girls, of course, ran ahead of us, but Bubs LOVED going up to the houses. He didn't quite understand why he wasn't supposed to go IN the houses, but said "trick or treat" every time and remembered to say "I welcome!" (his version of "thank you") We just went up and down ONE street and the girls called it quits because they wanted to play. Kinda made me mad since both my mom and I had spent countless hours on these costumes, but...what can you do? Its their night. (Note: They will all be wearing sheets next year.) We did have a great time hanging out while the kids all played and finally headed for home close to 11pm. Bubs actually slept til 8 am , so I sort of got to sleep in. Poor Jas had to be at work at 5am- boooooo! Needless to say, we were all a little worn out today, but totally worth it for all the fun that was had.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!