Moments Like This

I didn’t blog yesterday.  Just like I wasn’t going to blog today.  I just didn’t feel like I had any words that needed to be written.  And I figured rather than cluttering your readers with useless drivel, I’d just sneak away for a couple of days.  Give myself a break.  Let my mind recharge.

Then I read a post from Simple Mom today that got me thinking.  Not so much about how her words related to my life.  But because my thoughts go off on tangents, I landed on a concept that I’ve been dwelling on all week: Living in the moment.

Monday evenings Allison and I are left to our own devices while Daddy is at work.  We usually have a simple dinner of snacky foods (often times in front of the tv) and just fill the couple of hours before bedtime with books, puzzles, and crayons.

But this past Monday, I decided to do something different.  Before dinner we went for a walk.  Walks are typically reserved for family time, but it was a nice night and I just felt like getting out of the house.

As we walked through the cemetery behind our street, Allison chatted the entire time in Spanglish.  (Thank you, Dora.)  I was taken by how grown up she has become in the last six months.  At her 2nd birthday party she was hardly saying five words and now she is speaking in (bi-lingual) sentences.  Blows. My. Mind.

We walked through the quiet cemetery, collecting sticks and playing in leaf piles, while the sun set behind the trees.  Allison pretended that leaves were lakes and she asked me to “ayuda me” and pull her to safety with her pretend rope (aka stick).  She thanked me for saving her with a big unsolicited hug.

I wanted to freeze time.  Relive that moment forever.  Keep her that little girl walking and singing her ABCDs.

Two days later, I attempted to recreate that magical evening.  As a family we headed out in the same direction, except this time I remembered my camera.  I wanted to capture the moment we had had two days before.  So that I could feel it again.

But moments are fleeting and very rarely can they be reproduced.

However, every day is another opportunity to make more memories.  Different memories.  And I look forward to trying to make each one special.

Finger Painting

Allison is quite the artist these days.  But what do you do when crayons start getting a little boring?  FINGER PAINT!

Plain Yogurt + Food Coloring = Finger Paint

Allison isn’t a big fan of getting messy, so I wasn’t quite sure what her reaction would be…

I’d say she liked it.

She started out all delicate, carefully painting her favorite – circles.

Then she started to go all Jackson Pollock on me.

Once she figured out it was yogurt, though, there was a lot less painting and a lot more eating.

Although not before she created four masterpieces.  I’d say it was a productive hour.

Moments Like This

I know it's been awhile since I've updated here, but I'm pretty busy these days with Dear Mommy Brain and there just doesn't seem to be enough brain power to keep up with both.

But tonight I was reminded why I need to make a better effort.

Even though I wish Matt could work a more consistent schedule, I've really grown to love my evenings with Allison.  It took me a long time to get past the frustration of Matt closing, but once I did, I decided to take advantage of our mommy-daughter time.

So a couple weeks ago we went to the balloon glow and out for ice cream cones.  Then last week we finger painted.  But I have to say that tonight was my favorite event so far.  We went for a walk.

As we walked, she picked up leaves and sticks and berries, and we talked about nature.  We watched the sunset through the trees.  She chatted the entire time in Spanglish and at 2 1/2 really amazes me with how much she knows.  She's also developing a great imagination.  She pretended that a pile of leaves was a lake and she told me to grab her stick (rope) and pull her out.  She thanked me and I told her that I will always save her and she gave me an unsolicited hug.

It's these sweet moments that I am afraid that I will forget when the world gets too busy and I move too fast to pay attention.  Because these moments are fleeting and I want to hold onto them forever.

Adventures in Potty Training

Maybe I’m not the best person to write this…  Although I do consider myself quite a potty training pro.  I mean, I’ve been doing it for 5 months, so I should be.

So if nothing else, maybe you can glean some knowledge from my mistakes experience.

Let me start with a little background…

We used cloth diapers from age 6 months until we began potty training at 26 months.  That was when she started soaking through a diaper in under 5 minutes.  One of my friends pointed out that she must be holding it to pee that much.

That was all I needed to hear. 

She was holding it?  Hallelujah!  Let the potty training begin!

My original idea was to go with the boot camp method.  You know, pump her full of fluids and make her sit on the potty every 10 minutes, then voila!  She’s potty trained in three days. 

In my head it sounded so easy.  But that just didn’t work for us.  Or should I say me.  She went through nine pairs of pants in the first hour and a half.  And I got tired of cleaning the carpet.

The better course of action was to restrict her liquids to meal/snack time or if requested and take her potty every 30.   Plus the pants had to go.  She couldn’t distinguish between undies and diapers, but when she was naked, she got it.

Then there was the rewards.  We started with a sticker chart.  Every time she sat on the potty she got one star.  If she peed, she got one M&M.  If she pooped, she got two. 

We kept this up for the first week.  We stayed close to home to ensure we could get to a potty quickly.  We spent hours sitting on the potty reading books and singing songs.

And slowly she started to get it.

She understood where the pee pee and poo poo came from thanks to Prudence from Once Upon a Potty.  She knew what it felt like to have to go.  And she knew she didn’t want to stop what she was doing to take care of business.  Regardless of how many M&Ms it got her.  And don’t even get me started on “the deuce.”

Over the past five months, we’ve gone through periods of great success and horrible failure.  But we’ve stuck with it.  And I’d say we are about 80% there.

So even though every time we ask if she needs to get potty, we get an answer of “no yet!” we keep plugging along.  Because there is a dream that one of these days, our house will be diaper free and I won’t have to wipe someone’s ass forever.

Flashback Friday {Vacation}

I didn’t get much sleep last night.  I just couldn’t shut off my brain.  And then the neighbor’s dog MacGyver’ed himself outside and couldn’t get back in the house.  So he barked.  At 4am.  For over an hour. 

So today, all I can think about is wanting to be here.

With her.

And him.

No plumbing backups.  No broken dryer.  No mountain of yard sale leftovers.

Just me and my loves.

Best. Yard. Sale. Ever.

Oh, yes.  I actually followed through on this yard sale bidness.  Even after the weather report threatened rain all day.  And it was AWESOME!

Not so much because we made a lot of money (we made a little).  Or because we got rid of a lot of stuff (we still have a lot left).  But because we had a blast doing it!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen this posted at around midnight Friday night.

Because everyone knows that it’s much more important to stay up baking cinnamon rolls than, say, pricing yard sale items or going to bed since you have to be up at the ass crack of dawn.

My original idea was to sell them to hungry yard salers, but honestly they were so good, I didn’t want to share.  Although I did share with the neighbors.  Because I’m generous like that. 

And because they provided this.  Let me introduce you to our spokesperson.

I mean, who wouldn’t go to a yard sale endorsed by The Hulk?

He drove in so much traffic, we stayed open late.  We grilled brats for lunch and hung out while last-minute shoppers rummaged through our stuff.  We finally closed up shop when the rain hit at 2p. 

But all in all, it was a very successful sale and I’m kinda looking forward to having another one in the Spring!