In Which I Read One of the Best Books of All Time

I just put Weston to bed and we finished the last chapter of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. You know, the original one circa 1926 before it was all Disney-atized. I can't believe I'm 32 years old and have just laid my hands on this lovely piece of literature.

The best part is there are three more books (and an unofficial 4th)! Tigger isn't even IN the first book, which Weston realized before I did. He also noticed that Piglet wore a green shirt in the book illustrations (by Earnest Shepard...also delightful) as opposed to the more frequently seen red. A chapter book is a bit of a stretch for him, but he hung with it pretty well. Even though he's not understanding every single nuance of the book, he still loves to hear it and gets excited for our time to read together (sans Lily). And really, just the exposure to the way Milne writes tickles the ear of any age reader.

So...do yourself a favor and check this out from your local library ASAP. And then you'll be desperate to buy the box set like I will be begging my husband to allow me to do tomorrow (eh hem...it's for the KIDS, my love).

Hallelujah

If you've popped in here for any length of time or have talked to me for more than 10 minutes, you probably know the long journey potty training has been with our eldest little nugget. It all started here in this post, and it's been an uphill trek ever since (Please note the date, yes, 2 years ago!). Well friends, the epic day finally arrived two weeks ago when Weston pooped in the toilet just shy of 4 1/2 (he's been peeing just fine for almost a year). Forgive me for a post dedicated entirely to toilet talk, but really, this has changed my life.

Here's the promised Benny the Bull who has been hanging out on the top of our hutch awaiting this day for so long we had to put more air in him before use. I'm with you Benny, I was starting to lose steam over this whole thing too.  Also part of this deal was a new "Cars" racetrack and tickets to the Lion King musical at the Fox. Not that we hadn't tried excessive bribery already, but at last, the perfect timing of readiness, patience, soothing words and outlandish prizes came together. I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing and trumpets playing when I walked in the bathroom, but I can't be certain. My mind could have been hallucinating due to extreme lengths of bottom wiping.

And humor me just a bit more while I tell you that I have learned more about myself as a mom and who my son is through potty training perhaps than any other thing I've encountered. Not to over spiritualize a load of poop, but this has been no easy feat. Tears, loss of patience, accidents galore, fear/doubt, advice/unintended criticism. It's been a bit draining.  But here's what I'm starting to know: there are limits to my parenting, as in I don't get to control everything. Formulas only occasionally work (this + that = desired outcome). Process is just as important as the end result. It is not as important WHEN I get my child potty trained as what kind of character I display in the process. There are very popular 3 day potty training plans...well, ours was over 700 days. Weston just didn't fit into that box and he will likely not fit into many other boxes along the way and I'm thankful God is showing me how to deal with that. And that's not to say I couldn't have done things differently and certainly I didn't pull this thing off flawlessly, but in the end, I'm REALLY proud of my son for doing something that was truly wrapped in a lot of anxiety and I'm proud of myself for hanging in there and being willing to learn alongside him.

Here's to poop, friends. Hallelujah!

Grateful for... (had to dig through the archives to find where I left off!)

#89 Lessons in poop.
#90 Uninterrupted time to myself. Only a little bit, then I need the happy tune of endless questions and screams of delight/fighting back.
#91  Cobblestone pastries

First Day of Preschool

Weston's off to PreK 4! He's going two days a week at South City Community School and we're super excited to see how he grows and explores and learns this year. I got a little teary-eyed when I dropped him off, but quickly had to wrangle Lily who was yelling, "Me too! Me too!" (I guess we won't have any problems sending her off!). He was pretty hesitant at his "new student welcome", but when it came to the morning of, he got swept up with the flow of the hectic morning and did fine. When I picked him up, he was all smiles.

His new snake backpack he picked out.

Good friend Marlie who is in Kindergarten. So glad he has a familiar face around the school!

While he was at school, Lily and I went to two playgrounds, the library, the grocery store and had a corn dog picnic lunch. I look forward to having some one on one time with my little lady this year too!

Magic House

We had tickets to the Magic House from the kids ring bearer/flower girl debut in our friends' wedding and it was the perfect summer to have them! It was super crowded (what else to do when the high is 105?!) but I managed to leave with both kids still in tow.

How are you so cute, Lily? Just how do you do it? In a hand me down from Aunt Julie's wardrobe circa 1970's that's how.

Beatin' the Heat

 I presume the heat/drought of the Midwest's summer this year will go down in weather history. We'll be the record stat they pull up 40 years from now on the 6 o'clock weather spot (It hasn't been this hot since 2012!). It's a good conversation starter in the grocery line too, but other than that....It's. Just. Real. Hot.

Weston's "Andy the Lion" pose (from the movie "Madagascar")

Bottoms up!

A Trip to the Lake

 What's summer without a trip to the lake and fun with cousins and "flamily"?

This is probably the infamous "reindeer jump". Along with many other animal jumps!

Quite the natural lady of the boat pose...

Fishing for more snacks..."I hungy Momma"

Weston and Jesse reading a book together...sweetness abounds.

Leah and Tim tubing. Weston went with Kurt also...a new leaf has turned with the water this summer!

I don't know what's cuter...this kids face or Lily and Kurt smooching in the background.

Father's Day

For Father's Day this year I got Kurt and Weston tickets for a Cardinal game that was actually ON Father's Day. Yay! Weston was soooo excited. I didn't even tell him until that day because I knew his anticipation would bubble over into spilling the beans :). Kurt had the great idea of taking the MetroLink into the stadium...which led to even more jumping up and down from the little one. 

It was pretty hot that day and Weston made it through 10 of 14 innings of the game! I was pretty proud of him! I think Kurt took this picture to prove that adequate hydration was occurring...

Weston was exhausted when he got home, but when asked about his favorite part it was, of course, seeing Fredbird...

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Lily and I had the afternoon together in which she spent most of the time asking, "Where Wethtie doe?" And immediately upon arriving home half asleep, she was at his side asking "Wanna pay wit me? Wanna pay wit me?"

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad for these kiddos...and husband for this momma!