A Sweet List

I like to make lists. Kurt sometimes teases me, but I think he understands that it helps me to think clearly. Or remember anything. I had my list for today out on the counter this morning and next to my list to pick up milk and diapers, he added a few items while I was getting dressed...



This was a sweet reminder of a couple of trueisms: One, my husband his great. It's these type of little things he inserts into my daily life that help me to not take everything so seriously. And secondly, God is in control of my day, not my list. May I not be so self-absorbed that I don't recognize the Lord's leading, the needs of others or that I need to trash the list altogether. Because when I don't recognize these things, God tends to trash the list anyway :)

Too Early

This is what it looks like when our children wake up before 6 a.m.

Confessions of Motherhood

The following things have happened in the last couple months:

I drove home from the park with Weston not strapped into his car seat (scary!).

I let Lily sleep in a poopy diaper (this is a long story, but involved her waking in the middle of her nap and me not realizing she had a dirty diaper until I had patted her back to sleep).

I had the thought that I could be that mom on the 10 o'clock news that is missing for a week and when they found me I would be holed in a local hotel just sleeping for seven days straight.

I served Weston chocolate cake for breakfast.

I ripped a pair of Lily's pajamas in the middle of the night because the zipper was stuck and she was wailing.

I told Weston a piece of toffee chocolate I was eating had coffee in it so I wouldn't have to share it (toffee...coffee...same thing, right!? Bad. I feel guilty.)

I found a ziploc bag of some unidentified purple substance in the bottom of my diaper bag. It's been in there so long I will never have even the foggiest memory of what it is.

Weston said to me while I was wiping his face from breakfast, "Mom, you're kinda driving me crazy." (where did he learn that?!)

I am so in need of and thankful for God's grace and mercy each day because being a mom is the hardest thing I've done in life so far. And most certainly the best.

Here they are...they don't seem any worse for wear.

A Good Day

Every day is a great day around here, however some days are more CHALLENGING than others. But then there are those days where everything seems to come into place, the weather is nice, screeching is at a minimum and no one poops out their pants.

Labor Day was one of those such days for us. Kurt was home, which makes any day 100% better and we did a little pre-planning which always helps when you have small children. We'd been having a CHALLENGING time in the morning with Weston, finding we were having the same arguments, the same whines, etc.. We needed a little "reset". The night before we decided to get organized to leave early. The zoo opened at 8:00 and everything is FREE for the first hour which is definitely our style. By 7:30 a.m we were loaded and pulling out. Kurt looked at me and commented, "You do realize we are the only people awake right now, let alone packed and headed somewhere." We grabbed some doughnuts on the way because we hadn't even taken time for breakfast (where the majority of CHALLENGES were occurring). We only planned on staying an hour or so to get back for Lily's nap, but we were having such a good time that we stayed 2 1/2 hours.

Here we are!

Note the doughnut remnants still on the face...





Here we are with the stingrays. Funny story insert: Weston had to leave his doughnut in the stroller to stand in line for the stingrays (no food allowed). As we waited I hear Kurt say, "Oh no!". I follow his gaze and see a bird flying away with Weston's half doughnut. We both looked at each other with that horror of "how do you tell a 2 year old who rarely gets doughnuts that a bird decided to finish the last treasured morsel?!" He actually took it pretty well and shook it off like a champ



Weston wanted nothing to do with the goats and everything to do with the goats.



We got home in plenty of time for lunch and naps. While they slept Kurt and I laid on the couch with the windows open. I caught up on some magazines, read my book, went for a walk and made a peach pie. Then our dear friends the Fabbs' came over last minute with pizza and shared our dessert.





Now that's a good day.

And I Quote

In the context of Weston whining about some adverse condition, Kurt:

"What do you think it was like to be a pioneer traveling west? I mean, did their kids whine the whole time that it was hot and long and boring?"

Hmmm...not sure, but good point. No DVD's and animal crackers for those road trips.

Potty Training Attempt 1: Failure

A couple of weeks ago I set forth to potty train Weston. I lasted approximately 9 hours. It was miserable. But here's the deal: I can handle cleaning accidents, I can handle being camped out at home, I can handle whatever length of time it takes to "get it". What I CANNOT handle is a tot who holds it (not even going in underwear) making himself unbearably uncomfortable, will not go on the potty and then proceeds to cry and scream on AND off the potty. Treats and prizes were even involved. Ones he REALLY wanted. But to no avail. I was done at 5:05 p.m. and strapped that diaper right back on. I won't be able to try again until 1) I'm getting more sleep (please, Lily, PLEASE!) and 2) Kurt is home for the first day or two to help prevent me from throwing anyone out the window.

These pictures were taken at 7:30 a.m when hopes were high and spirits were happy.





Weston is constipated today and I am reminded again of how much I hate the NOT going. Give me diarrhea any day of the week and twice on Saturday before constipation. Give me a toddler who pees and poops his pants for days before being potty trained. But please, not one that holds it until everyone is so miserable that diapers through high school becomes a viable option.

There you have it. That wraps up my thoughts on poop and potties. I'm pretty sure you were dying to know.

Runny Peach Pie

I made my first peach pie. I couldn't NOT do a post about it, right? Surprisingly, it was not too runny. And actually, I made two. The first one was prettier. The second one tasted better. This is the second one.



You are probably wondering what the three blobs are in the middle and I will tell you they are my (failed) attempt at being cute and adding leaf cutouts to the center.

And in case you didn't know this about my side of the family, we eat pie for breakfast. Weston doesn't mind too much. Although this morning he asked me if I could put blueberries in the pie instead of peaches...sorry buddy.