Timing

We have had two breakthroughs this week that have certainly improved life with a 2 year old. The first is using a timer. Av is one smart cookie and has learned the art of stalling. Our bedtime routine is a good example. We always take Av to the potty before nap and bedtime. Av figured out that she could sit in bathroom reading her books to prolong going to bed. Recently she has stayed in there for over 20 minutes! Last week we implemented use of a timer. Now I put her in the bathroom and let her know that I'm starting the timer. Now she knows that she has to hurry up in the bathroom or putting her toys away or finish reading her books. I think it is also helping her comprehend concepts of time. The timer is my friend :).

The second, and more exciting milestone, is that Av has took naps, yesterday and today, in her underwear-no diaper!!!! Av has been potty trained for almost 6 months, but still wearing diapers during naps and at night. Yesterday, right before nap time, Av asked if she could sleep in her panties. Of course I was thinking "No Way! This will end up terrible, I just washed all of her bedding this morning. She'll wet the bed and wake herself up, then be awful for the rest of the day since she didn't nap....." Against my better judgement I went along with it and I am so glad that I did!

Sorry if this is trivial and boring news to many of you, but in our house this is exciting stuff! I really shouldn't even be at my computer right now. We're going out of town tomorrow, it's 10 pm and I still need to finish laundry, pack, clean the kitchen, vacuum, and probably mop the floors-whew!

On another front, I think my husband has a crush on the Republican vice presidential nominee :).

Happy Birthday to me!

Don't I have a great husband!! J has always been a better gift giver than I am. I was expecting some sewing supplies, but instead I got a Wii and a Wii fit! Very exciting. I'm sure that J is going to enjoy my present as much as I am. I really hope that the yoga on it is good. Yoga is my new favorite workout. I'm thinking Av might even join me. I don't think I shared this when it happened, but sorry if I'm repeating myself. My normal yoga DVD is 1.5 hours long. I only had 10-15 minutes left on it a few days ago when Av woke up from her nap. I paused the video, got Av out of her room, and set her up with some yogurt so I could finish my yoga. I looked to my right a few minutes later and Av was on the floor with me trying to do the yoga positions. Seeing a 2 year old try to attempt yoga positions was the highlight of the day. Now she occasionally strikes a pose and announces that she is stretching and doing yoga.
I better run, in the time that I downloaded the picture and posted this J has opened the box, hooked it up the TV, and is playing with it. I can see this is going to be a "what's yours is mine" gift :).

Lessons Learned

1. ALWAYS check the pockets in your pants before you wash them. I am normally neurotic about this, but got in a hurry today and forget to check one pair. Of course, it would be in my new white J Crew pants. I put my vitamin for the day in my pocket as I was running out the door a couple of days ago. Obviously I forgot to take the vitamin that day. The whole front of my pants were a lovely yellow-orange color when they came out of the dryer. Thankfully, Shout and my Clorox bleach pen saved the day and the pants are fine.

2. Av is learning how to use her feminine charm. Yesterday we decided to spend our afternoon at the pool. Av was playing with one of her friends in the pool and her friend asked Av who her best friend is. J had just walked up to us and Av affectionately looked up at him, batted her lashes, and said "Papa." I think his knees actually wobbled. Can you say "wrapped around her finger?" Girlfriend knows where her bread is buttered.

Beat Down

Whew, what a day. If we had tequila in the house I would consider bypassing the margaritas and going straight to shots. I think Av's goal today was to see how close she could get to the line and if she would actually get in trouble if she crossed it. We had to go through many "corrections" and even multiple types of corrections. I knew it was bad when the lady behind us in the check-out aisle at Wal-Mart shared advice she had once been given-- that children have bad days sometimes, just like the rest of us do. Part of me was encouraged by her words, and part of me was embarrassed.

Seriously, when do girls start experiencing PMS? In the bedtime routine alone, Av had multiple breakdowns. She burst into tears when we put her toothpaste away after brushing her teeth! Last night we had an owl in yard and we went outside to listen to it "hoot"-{all of you Chi-O's out there would have loved it :)}. Tonight, after she was in the crib with the lights out, she started crying again b/c the owl flew away and we didn't say "goodnight" to it tonight.

All I can say is, I'm thankful that tomorrow is a new day, and God's mercies are new every morning.

If you need a good laugh today, like I did, go read this post from a pediatrics resident.

Are Contacts Edible?

Av and I joined my mom and a few of her friends at the beach for a girls weekend. We had a wonderful time and Av ate up the attention since she was the only child there. We enjoyed the pool, the beach, and sitting on the porch drinking coffee in the mornings. Mom knows Av is fairly obsessed with dress-up and ,being a good grandmother, got Av a new outfit-dress, crown, jewelry, and shoes! Av had stripped and changed into her "princess dress" within 15 minutes of arriving at the beach. She even wore it to the pool.

Av and Mom, below Av and her pool friend, Maggie

The following is the real story of the post and what produced the best laugh from the weekend. Mom and I shared a bedroom, but since Mom is a gracious host, she gave the master to 2 of the other girls. Our room didn't have a bathroom in it, so Mom's bathroom bag was in the master bath. Saturday night Mom needed to take out her contacts, but the girls in the master had already gone to bed. Mom didn't want to wake them, so she just put her contact in glass, but as we were going to bed, couldn't remember where she put it....the following occurred

11 pm Sun. Mom asked if the glass was on the nightstand, I didn't see it there, Mom figured she left it in the kitchen

6:30 am Mon. Everybody but Av and me left to go to a conference

10:30 am Mon. Av pointed out an empty glass (the same kind of glass Mom's contact was in) on the kitchen counter and said "that glass has yucky water." I had no idea what she was talking about since it was empty. We had margaritas out of those glasses the night before and I wondered if she had somehow tasted leftover margarita.

2:00 pm Mon. Mom came back from the conference and found the glass she had used for her contact. Turns out it was on the nightstand, but behind a lamp-which explained why I didn't see it Sun. night. Oh, and the glass was empty!

We put 2+2 together and came to the conclusion that Av drank Mom's contact and saline solution! She hasn't been sick yet, so I guess everything is fine!

Crazy

I put Av down for a nap 1.5 hours ago and she has been singing/talking to herself the entire time!! I hope she falls asleep soon, b/c we have to be somewhere in 2.5 hours!

A Day in The Life

When you have two 2 year olds and a three year old together for hours, lots of activity ensues! Two precious friends of Av's, Morgan and Page (Darby's girls) came over on Friday, and what a great day we had!

The girls played Ring-Around-the-Rosie

Then went to the swingset

Rode bikesAfter all the outside play, they had to come in and cool off by standing over the vents!

Once inside, the girls "helped" with my to-do list. Morgan vaccuumed, Av mopped, and Page went grocery shopping.

Then they discovered a fun game of me "sleeping" on the floor behind the sofa, and they would jump up over the back of the sofa to roar/yell and scare me to wake me.

Then the girls "killed" a tiger and an alligator (toys), but there were significant injuries and we all had to be rushed to the hospital (aka-the sofa). We all had broken legs and I lost one of my legs in battle. Morgan had the most significant injuries. She broke her head, hair, eyelashes, ears, nose, cheeks, teeth, tongue, lips, throat, neck, tummy, shoulders, elbows, arms, hands, fingers, fingernails, back, legs, knees, toes, and feet. Right when I thought we had fixed everything she lost her vision and was unable to open her eyes. Thankfully Av and Page concocted a miracle elixir in the playroom kitchen and, after 5 doses of it, Morgan was able to see and open her eyes!

As you can tell, it was an eventful day. We hope to do it again soon!

PS-I tried to add more pictures, but either blogger or my computer is freezing up when I try to do so! Frustrating.

Whatever You Do

I love the Olympics. I love watching the talent of such incredible, world-class athletes. I love watching such fierce competition. And, of course, I love the heart wrenching and tear inducing stories. I especially love hearing our National Anthem being played when a US athlete wins gold. I am proud of our athletes and our country.

One thing that keeps running through my mind this week is this: is there any area of my life that I am committed to like these athletes are to their sport. Maybe my role as a wife and mom? I would like to say I am that committed to my faith, but I don't think I can.

Colossians 3 keeps running through my mind, specifically verses 23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

I may be cleaning, treating a patient, changing a diaper, cooking dinner, talking with a friend, but I hope I am doing so with the strength that God provides and giving my full effort, since He is ultimately the one that I am serving. May I have that level of commitment for the big and the small moments in life, because even though a gold medal is phenomenal, there is another prize that is more important to me.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Favorites

I wanted to share a few items I have discovered recently that are now in my list of favorites.

1. I don't know if you are like me, but when I'm at home I tend to wear scrub pants/pajama pants. Definitely not the most flattering option. I also don't think my husband puts either of them in the "attractive" category, as both of them cause a severe case of flat-butt. These pants from Target are my new solution. The best part is you can get them in short, reg, and tall!! As a 5'10" girl, I need, treasure, and am willing to pay high dollar (but these are only $20) for pants that don't look like I'm waiting for the flood gates to open. I wear them around the house, running errands, for yoga... J noticed the first time I wore them and said they are a significant improvement. Cute and comfortable.

2. I have white-blonde, short, and sparse eyelashes. When it comes to eye makeup, I need all the help I can get. I have used eyelash curlers for years, but always bought mine at the drugstore. I figured, it's a curler, they're all the same why pay $20 for one? Well, J bought me this one, by Shu Uemura, for Christmas and I promise, there is a HUGE difference. Well worth the money.

3. Along the eye makeup line, is primer. I initially thought it was hocus pocus, but just like the curler, it makes a significant difference. It also makes my mascara last much longer during the day. I like Lancome's and Loreal's.

4. Even at 30 I still have occasional, annoying pimples that I wish I could've left in my teens. I like this. It is a clear gel that doesn't leave any sticky, creamy residue. It works very well and gets rid of problem spots quickly.

There you go, some of my current top 10 favorites. Have any you want to share with me?

She's Back

Last night I experienced a strange, somewhat foreign feeling. Av has been 3 hours away, at my parents' house, since Thursday. The house is clean and hours of yardwork were completed. I caught up on laundry and emails. I even got to spend a day sewing with Darby and Tami, which I really enjoyed-why didn't I start sewing earlier in life? Then yesterday, Sunday, rolled around We got up (at 10:00 am no kid=no alarm clock!) and went to church. After church we actually had a date and went to the movies! We might have seen a movie in the theater 5 times since we've been married. We saw The Dark Knight, and I will warn you, it is a dark movie, definitely not for the kids.

So, back to the strange feeling. After getting home from the movie I didn't even make anything for dinner since neither of us were hungry after having popcorn at the movie. We were on the couch watching the Olympics, which I LOVE, and I had a bleh feeling. I wasn't sad, angry, depressed...but I finally nailed it. I was bored! I can't remember the last time that I felt bored-can you? I had done everything I needed to for the weekend, and Av had been gone long enough. Time for her to come home and put some excitement back into this house! Of course, this is not to say that we should always be running around. God does call us to "Be still" Ps 46.

We certainly enjoyed calm, uninterrupted time and conversation with each other, but life just isn't the same without her around. What did I do before she was here? I think I decided that I would rather have a messier house, frazzled mind, and unending to-do list than a spotless house and completed list if it meant I didn't have her here with me. I'm thankful for moments where I get a "break" from parenthood, but I'm more thankful for her.

I met my parents halfway to pick her up this evening and we're back into full force mode. There's no easing your way back into life with a 2 year old!

War Eagle

According to this link, if Auburn were country unto itself, it would be #65 out of 205 competing countries ranked by number of athletes in the Olympics. You can also check out the link for profiles of the AU athletes and what days/times they will be competing. Go support the Tigers!!!!

If you didn't have the privilege of going to Auburn, I'm sorry for your loss :). I am immensely thankful I had 4 years of my life there for school and 1 year of work there. I can not imagine spending my college years at any other place. I grew in my faith, got an excellent education, made life long friendships....I could fill up pages of what Auburn has given me. If you haven't been to an Auburn game, you're missing an incredible way to spend a Fall Saturday. I still tear up during the pregame performance of the video, the eagle flying, and singing the National Anthem. I'm about to start tearing up right now. I believe in Auburn and love it. WAR EAGLE!!!

Table for 2

My parents asked to keep Av for the weekend, so J and I drove 1.5 hours today to meet mom halfway and make the drop-off. J and I then enjoyed an uninterrupted dinner together. It wasn't high class-just pizza and beer at Mellow Mushroom, but, sadly, it was the first date we have had in a long time. We even stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home for dip cones and I didn't have to share mine with a certain 2 year old. We got to listen to our book on CD without having to stop it every 10 minutes to pick up a sippy cup, turn on The Little Mermaid, get a blanket, etc-those of you with toddlers know what I'm talking about.

I called mom when we got home and she said "Av was an angel on the drive home." Yeah, that's because she was strapped into her carseat! Once they got home Mom took Av into the house, set her up watching The Wiggles, and went back to the garage to get Av's bag. Mom said in that little amount of time Av had gone upstairs, rifled through her mom's makeup drawer, found a container of liquid eyeliner, and splatter painted the hallway carpet with it. I hated to laugh, but I couldn't help it. Poor Mom, it's just the beginning of the weekend. I think Av has figured out she can get away with almost anything at my parent's house.

On the serious side, I am incredibly thankful for how much my parents love my little girl and for how much Av loves them. In fact, Av was so excited to go with Mom that once we put the carseat in Mom's car and strapped Av in she gave me a big kiss and said "Bye Momma, shut the door." Thanks Av, I feel the love :).

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend of sleeping in and more dates with my hubby. Maybe we'll even go see a movie. I hope Mom survives the weekend.

A Beautiful Mind

I love seeing children's minds working and learning. I find it remarkable how quickly they learn and process new information and how they change with their newly found knowledge. I mentioned recently how proud I am of her for learning to recognize all the letters. Today I enjoyed observing her imagination at work.

Av received a kid's kitchen for Christmas from her grandparents and it is currently her favorite item in her playroom. I really should get her more "play" food. She has a tea set, pots, pans, and utensils, but for food-only a set of eggs, milk, oj, and condiment containers. Multiple times a day she all the sudden announces she going to make eggs for us. Av runs into the kitchen, "cooks" the eggs, and brings them out to us for us to eat. Of course, she warns us that they are very hot :). She also serves us "coffee" from her teapot.

While I was in the kitchen today she walked in with her shopping cart and informed me that she was going shopping. She had taken almost every single item from her kitchen and loaded them into the cart.

Another step she has taken this week is cleaning up after herself...and sometimes I don't even have to ask her to do it!!! We were about to eat dinner a few nights ago and when I let her know dinner was almost ready her response was "I have to clean up first!" What a blessing. It is so fun to watch her play, see her imagination work, and to see responsibility growing in her. I really do love this age. It seems that she changes and grows daily, making each day so precious. It makes me thankful for the blog world and that I am attempting to keep a record of our daily life to help me remember all these moments.

The area that I am struggling capturing is pictures. Right when I pull the camera out Av stops what she's doing, runs to me, and asks to see pictures of herself. If only I had never shown her the wonder that you can look at the pictures on a digital camera! Here she is right after the above shot asking to "see Av."

Truth in Advertising

Typically I'm not much of a believer in "as seen on TV" products, but after my experience yesterday, I had to tell you about this one. Have any of you tried the ped egg? I had heard from a few friends of mine that they are well worth the money. I have used things like pumice stones before and they have always done the trick--until recently. This month of flip-flops and constantly working around the house has taken my feet to an all-time low. Last week I noticed my feet really hurt one morning. I attributed it to being on my feet all day until I actually inspected them. I not only had calluses, but they had cracked open and were bleeding. So gross. Right now I don't have the time for regular pedicures and I really don't want to spend the money on them anyway. I decided I would give the ped egg a shot, so I headed over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to make my $10 purchase. It was one of the best purchases I have made in quite a while. Today my feet are smooth and pain free. If you, or anyone you love, has rough feet-go get one NOW!

Other updates-had my 2nd sewing lesson today (thanks Tami!). I finished the dress from last week and made a sleeveless top and shorts outfit. One lesson I learned: don't buy enough fabric for one pattern only to decide you want to use another pattern later...and realize you don't have enough fabric. I now know firsthand why people say measure twice, cut once.

Success

I made it to my sewing lesson and it was a success! With Tami's help I made a dress for Av and repaired a sheet that had torn. I really enjoyed the time while we were there and I look forward to more sewing. I'm not anywhere near being an expert, but I know more today than I knew yesterday.

I would have given you a pic of Av in the dress, but this is how she spent her afternoon-cuddled on the couch watching Sesame Street.