Recipe for a great weekend

• 1 bottle Chardonnay
• 1 bottle Smirnoff's pre-mixed cosmos
• 1 bag dark chocolate cadbury hard-shell candy
• 1 container key lime pie dip w/ various dipping items
• 1 large container crack-in-a-bowl (see previous post)
• 2 nights stay at the NBI in cottage including fireplace and private hot-tub
• 2-3 meals out without kids
• 4 spa massages
• unlimited shopping at Michigan City

• add 4 moms in need of a break, mix well, and let sit for at least 48 hours

ENJOY!

Everybody poops

My toddler just chooses when and where she will do it.
I'm trying to be so laid-back with this potty-training business but I'll tell you I am so tired of buying cutsie pull-ups in addition to diapers just to suffice my daughter's whims.
About a week before we left for FL she decided she wanted to attempt this again. I rolled with it. Bought Dora panties, Princess Pull-Ups, and stocked the cabinets with lots of her favorite treats (Granola Bites and Smarties). The novelty wore off quickly but she continued to do well on vacation and even had one fluke of a poop on the actual toliet (to which I responded with whoops of excitement and promises of special toys to which she responded "NO!, I don't WANT special toys!" Okaay....)
SO! Now we are back to the norm and she is choosing to pee on the potty most times but pooping is still a no-go. We've talked a ton about not pooping in her Princess Pull-Ups (cause mommy is cheap and those suckers are pricey) so she is clever enough to wait until early morning to take care of "business" in her nighttime diaper (and again, yes I am using diapers cause she poops and pees anyway in her sleep so what's the point of ruining a pull-up...not to mention it is down right GROSS to change a poopy pull-up!)
NOW. Today we were doing well. I bought new DORA pull-ups yesterday and we talked again about keeping it "clean and dry" so this afternoon before naptime when I knew she sometimes has to "go" I tried several times to get her to sit on the toilet and even sat in there reading books for 10 minutes with her. Nothing.
Finally she came and asked me to put a diaper on so she could poop. First time she's ever flat-out asked so I said okay but gave the whole "blah blah" speech about how proud of her I would be if she went on the potty. She answered "Okay, Mommy" and trotted off to her room to do the deed.
5 minutes later she comes up and taps me and says, "Mommy, can you come pick up my poop off the floor?" I go in her room to encounter a stench strong enough to put an outhouse to shame and a very large "gift" laying on the floor next to the diaper that she took off when she was done.
SICK!!!!!!!!
ARGH!!!!!!
Did I forget to mention that two days ago she peed on the carpet outside of her bathroom (of course she couldn't do it two inches over and on the vinyl) and as much as I have scrubbed it, it still smells like a men's urinal throughout my upstairs loft? I feel like I'm living in a barn. Seriously. Enough already.

In denial (like her mama)

Sydney was playing on the floor behind me and when I turned around I found she had rolled herself into the suitcase that I have yet to put away . She played in there happy as a lark for about 10 minutes and cried when I took her out. I hear ya Syd...I wish I could pack us both up and fly back South!

p.s. And yes, she is almost 11 months and still prefers rolling to any other form(s) of movement. No crawling. No scooching. No walking around furniture. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Homemade Caramel Corn a.k.a. Crack in a Bowl

So good...you can't stop. Seriously.

3 bags popped microwave popcorn ( I use "lite butter" - yes, it makes me feel better when I eat half the batch)
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in saucepan and bring to boil, stirring occasionally (It should end up having a "creamy" look). Boil for 5 minutes and remove from stove. Add vanilla and b. soda and stir together.
Divide popcorn into roasting pans and/or 9x13 pans lined with tin-foil.
Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and put in oven at 250 degrees.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring about every 15 minutes. Caramel will melt to bottom of pan so you want to stir it up into the popcorn.
Remove and cool on waxed paper on counter.
Gorge yourself and Enjoy!

A week in heaven

The title pretty much sums up our vacation in sunny Sarasota, FL last week. There are so many highlights from our trip that I don't know where to start! Everyday we had almost picture perfect weather and I was loving every minute of watching Raegan soak up the warmth and run and run and play and play to her hearts content. We were spoiled with a pool across the street from the condo and a park just a short drive away. Everyday was filled with sunshine, relaxation, and lots and lots of good food.

We even managed to hit a few milestones along the way with Sydney adding her second tooth, finally mastering the sippee cup (although not without alot of drama but if you want that story, you can ask me later), Raegan finally making it OFF the beach towel and INTO the sand for the first time in her almost 3 years of life, as well as tentatively leaving the security of the pool steps to actually "swim" on Daddy's shoulders. This was a major breakthrough for her and we were very proud.

And finally, Brad and I were even able to get away for a night to the Lido Beach Resort to celebrate our upcoming 5 year anniversary. Thanks again Mom and Dad K. for giving us that night away and everything else you graciously supplied for us! We have some great memories!!

Weaned

No more mama's milk for Sydney as of this morning.

Mama was probably more sad then Sydney although she (Syd) did make sure to cry and scream alot today to let me know that this was still not HER choice. But I have no more left to "give" so there simply isn't a choice anymore. Silly how sad and sort of empty I felt this morning and throughout the day. My baby is 'growing up'. (sigh, sniff sniff) Guess that means that I'm ready for #3 right? Ha!

Oh, and after 3 days of a sippee-cup-strike when I was just getting to the point where I was sure she was dehydrated, I discovered that she LOVES drinking just plain old water out of it. Figures.

One step forward, two steps back

Whew. It was quite a week and weekend around here. We don't like to do things 'one at a time' in our family so in a matter of about 7 days we found ourselves in the throws of potty-training (by RG's choice), weaning of nursing (my choice) and cutting our "first" two bottom teeth (not Sydney's choice but neither was the weaning so you can imagine how last week went for me)!
All in all, it was....quite a week let's just say. And now it is Monday again and RG is back in diapers (after SEVERAL accidents, one being a #2 in her new Dora panties which was flat-out gross), Sydney was up 3 times last night cutting that 2nd tooth and dealing with some of her own pooping issues, and I am still nursing out of guilt that poor Sydney is having such a rough patch. Again, Whew!
Did I mention that Brad was gone most of the weekend at a Men's Retreat Fri-Sat and then to a Sportsman's show on Sunday afternoon? I'm glad he got some time away as it was much deserved for him but it leaves me feeling like I sort of didn't get much of a break.
However, I am NOT complaining as we are anxiously counting down the 4 days until we hit the friendly skies for sunny Florida. Whoo hoo! I simply cannot wait. Brad was mocking me that I already have the suitcases out but that is also because I just ordered matching personalized duffle bags for the girls that are TOO CUTE. So of course I couldn't wait to start filling them!
Now let's just see how this week goes. My goals are by next Monday I will be sitting in the Florida sun with a happy 10 month old with two teeth who is done nursing and expertly using a sippee cup and an almost 3 year old who is happily swimming in the pool minus a swim diaper. I'm pretty confident with the first two, we'll see about the latter. =)
Stay Tuned...

Happy Chinese New Year!

In celebration of this Asian holiday and the 'someday' coming of our new cousin from China we had an arts & crafts time this blustery morning. My ever-thoughtful sister-in-law, Kristin, sent Raegan a special card complete with stickers, a coloring page, a piece of paper with her chinese name printed on it, a Chinese lantern craft, and a dollar bill! Raegan was thrilled and I have to say that I had lots of fun making the lantern (and in fact made two because it was such fun). Raegan especially enjoyed applying the stickers to everything and kept saying "I'm making a special Happy Balentine"(Oh well, we'll work on differentiating our holidays another day).

Thanks Aunt Kristin for a fun activity for this wintery day!

RG

Raegan is really seeming old to me lately. Her vocabulary is amazing and she is still such a sponge! Daily I hear phrases uttered that I may have only said once. Her favorite as of late is, "But Mom, that's not a choice!"

And the other day she told me she couldn't do something I asked her to do because it was too "Angerous" (Dangerous).

She kills me.

Still playing beauty shop

I think my friend longs for the days when she used to have Barbies to prettify (or maybe she never had them) and now likes to practice on my girls when I leave them in her care. =)

I must say, I liked the outcome of this hair-do session MUCH better then the bang-cutting "incident".

(Love you Brenda!)