The Princess and Her Throne

For a while now we have been really wishy washy about starting up Lily's potty training.  She would tell us whenever she did something in her diaper, but no way was she about to put on the precious little panties she chose out herself (even though we caught her sleeping with them like a teddy bear on multiple occasions.  And not just a few.  A MOUNTAIN.  That must have been awkward....)

But then last Saturday as I was perusing the grocery store, I finally succumbed and decided to buy soda.  We never buy soda.  If I'm going to fill up on empty calories you better believe I'm going to ruin my health and jean size properly [1].  I put them in the pantry for, you know, the future.  Then WABAM!  The future hit about 2.5 seconds later.

"Mommy, can I have some Daddy Juice [2]?" asks Lily.
"You only get Daddy Juice if you put on panties and start using the potty.  That's why I bought it."

So we put on her cute little girl panties and pumped her full of Daddy Juice.  She visited the potty about every 15-30 minutes.  Day 1 = 11 successes and 3 accidents.  We gave her a jelly bean after each success.  And that has actually worked out well because I was worried about how Skyler would react to Lily's rewards.  I simply took her into the pantry each time, Skyler closed the door on us with zero idea of what was happening, I'd let Lily choose her color, and then we'd jump out of the pantry and yell "BOO!" as if we were playing hide and go seek.  He'd giggle like the whole thing was a game.  Fabulous.

Day 2 was a different story.  It was like a dream [3].   Lily always told me when she needed to use the potty and we'd run through the kitchen to the powder room with Chariots of Fire music blaring around us [4].  She was a little Olympian.  9 successes and 1 minor leakage in her panties.

Day 3 was the same as Day 2 except the music was getting louder.  She's my little gold medalist.

Then Day 4 was very interesting.  Very interesting, indeed.  0 accidents.  But the kicker?  "Lily, what color jelly bean do you want?" "I don't want a jelly bean, Mommy.  I'm good."  Uhhhhh..... WHAT?  You don't want a jelly bean [5]?  Are you really my child [6]?

And that's how it's been ever since.  No jelly beans.  No accidents.  Just happy potty time.  And she continues to hold it for longer and longer each day.  Can I hear a "Woot woot?!"  Aaaahhh.... it's almost like I can hear the cha ching! in my bank account right now.  One down, who knows how many to go.


[1]  I only waste calories on chocolate.  It's the only thing that's worth it.
[2]  "Daddy Juice" is the term our kids use for soda that's so diluted it barely has any color.  GAG.  But they love it.
[3]  But not the one where you're naked at school or the Inception 4-level kinds.  The good kind.
[4]  So I didn't actually turn on Chariots of Fire music.  But it did go on in my head as I imagined us running slow motion through the house as Lily was yelling, "Oh no!  Potty!" holding onto her panties.  If you seriously have no idea what music I'm talking about go HERE.
[5]  I wish my parents would give me a piece of candy every time I used the bathroom.  ESPECIALLY when I'm pregnant.  :)
[6]  One of my earliest memories came from when I was being potty trained.  My parents and I still joke about it.  I used to think it was such a rip off to use the potty when I ONLY got 1 lousy M&M [1].  It was worth at least a few.

The Macbeths and the Curse of the Black Pearl[s]*

*Please note that this post has absolutely nothing to do with the first Pirates of the Carribean movie.  Although my story does involve two little pirates.  And a damsel in distress. And a place off of the Carribean. And, of course, black pearls.

See those babies up there?  Those are my black pearls.  One of the many wedding presents that Ben gave me on that special day.  But that's not where my story starts.  Let's go back to somewhere between 2002 and 2004. 

It starts in Venezuela.  That's where Ben served his mission after all.  In case you're unfamiliar with Venezuela, it's really, REALLY, RRREEEAAALLLYY creeptastic.  OK.... back to my story.  So Ben bought his future wife (or may I name her "The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Him and Gave Him the Two Cutest Kids In the Entire Universe Because She's Cool Like That and Always Has a Perfectly Clean House, a Perfectly Mild Temperment, and Is Saving The World One Blog Post and Diaper At a Time?"..... FYI the acronym for my new name would be "TBTTEHTHAGHTTCKITEUBSCLTAAHAPCHAPMTAISTWOBPADAAT."  I'll give $10 to whoever can pronounce that.)

Phew.  To make a long story short...... (read this part really quickly, or skim over it if you would prefer not to read anything creeptastic)..... Ben was robbed at gunpoint with his companion and had to give up everything that was on him, including my necklace.  So Ben had to come home necklace-less.  True story.  Start up the violins.

Fortunately for Ben when TBTTEHTHAGHTTCKITEUBSCLTAAHAPCHAPMTAISTWOBPADAAT (aka me) entered his life his parents were living in Samoa (ironically called "The Pearl of the Pacific").  So they happilly brought back a replacement for Ben to give me.  (If we were in an auditorium I would ask for applause at this point.  But on a blog that would just be weird and then you would be stuck in front of your computer with the rest of your family staring at you, wondering why on Earth you're clapping your hands... so we'll just skip that part). 

Fast forward to the present.  My kids, although incredibly adorable in pictures, aren't perfect.  They got a hold of my bracelet a while ago and decided to have a competive round of Tug of War.  Those pearls were scattered EVERYWHERE right as it was time to leave for church.  So we picked up as many as we saw and promised we'd look for the rest later.

We looked, but not all were found.  But then Lily frequently started coming up to me with her hand balled into a fist saying, "Look Mommy!" and she'd have a pearl for me.  So I made her a deal.  One mini marshmallow for every pearl.  Let's just say that child has eaten her fair share of marshmallows the last couple of weeks. 

So when I tell my kids not to grow up I halfway mean it.  It's so nice to smell their baby-ness, to see their sleeping positions, to hear their attempts at speaking English when it comes out sounding something R-rated.  I love my kids.  They're the best.  And it's also awesome that they're growing up so that when I need their help, they're there.  Although Lily's in the process of ditching her diapers for good, I'm NOT looking forward to the day when she has to return the favor by changing mine.  *shivers*  Why don't we all just take our time growing up?

Making Memories

 My kids' favorite game is to climb up on the side table and belly flop onto the sofa.  Once again, hand me the mother of the year award for allowing them to do this every single day.  Sigh.  I promise they haven't gotten hurt doing it.

Anybody need a new manicurist?  I know of a 2-year-old who would LOVE to paint your nails for free.  Although she, and her mother for that matter, accepts tips in the form of chocolate.  Call us.

(And just for the record I haven't pulled out the nail polish remover for anything but to clean up the floor afterwards.  That paint job is staying.  Lily's so proud of it.)

So often I say "Hand me the mother of the year award" sarcastically, just as I did in this post.  And it's true.  I'm so so so so so far from being the perfect mom.  I get easilly frustrated when they dump their cereal on the floor, sometimes I let them get away with things they know are wrong, and don't even ask me what my house looks like most of the time, although anyone with an eyeball can see in my pictures that it's not tidy.  And although I often apologize for the mess, it's safe to say that it's how my house actually looks 90% of the time.

But looking back on my childhood I don't ever remember scrutinizing my parents or their house.  All of my favorite memories came from being together as a family and all those random moments of fun like when I stole a "squeeze here" sticker off of a toy and stuck it on my sister Lizzie's butt.  Or when my mom told me that, yes, I COULD eat ice cream for breakfast.  Or going TPing with my friends and my mom (yes, that's right, my MOM).  Or when my dad would take us swimming almost everyday during the summer.  And family vacations when I cried as we bicycled down the road at Hilton Head because alligators were everywhere and I was sure that was how I was going to die.  Or flying to Utah for my spring breaks during high school and living in my sister, Becca's, apartments. 

So, no, my house isn't perfect.  No I'm not a perfect mom.  But I hope my kids will be able to create their own fun memories with me and Ben, and each other.  So when my kids bellyflop onto the sofa, I'll just remind myself that maybe this is something they'll smile back on, and remember that it's all the little gold nuggets that make life good.

Raleigh's Tornado

As many of you know NC got hit by 3 tornadoes yesterday.  Before I begin my story, let me just say that I LOVE crazy storms.  My absolute favorite weather is heavy rain.  I know I'm weird, but it's the truth.  I can do thunderstorms.  Heck, I can do hurricanes.  But tornadoes freak the mess out of me because they're so unpredictable.  And unfortunately, one carved right through Raleigh yesterday.

Ben was working at a friend's house, redoing their ceilings.  He doesn't have a cell phone FYI.  I knew we were supposed to have bad weather so I kept up my laptop up and kept refreshing our news channel's webpage (we don't have TV).  I knew that there were a few tornadoes on the ground and  I was freaking out.  It was about 3:30 (naptime) when my mom called and told me that our news anchors had told the people in my area of Raleigh to take cover.  So I ran upstairs pulled Lily and Skyler out of their beds and came downstairs.  Our go-to spot is our pantry since it's the only room on the bottom floor that doesn't have an outer wall to our house.  Thank goodness it's huge.  I actually organized our food in case of a catastrophe.  Our canned goods are on the bottom so they won't kill us when they fall.  :)  I threw in a bunch of toys and a blanket to sit on.  I handed them cookies and they looked at me as if they had just gone to heaven.  I never let them in the pantry so apparently this was a treat.  Haha. 

So while the kids were eating and stacking cans for 45 minutes in the pantry the tornado came right by us.  It was about 2 or 3 miles away from us but it was BIG.  Here are some pictures of a neighborhood not too far from us:



Ben and I actually considered buying a house in this area and the tornado would have hit us head on.  I'm so grateful that we had impressions that it was the wrong area for us.  Although I'm sure it was for reasons other than this tornado. 

So while the kids were having a ball in the pantry I was freaking out.  People who know me well know that I'm a worrier.  If I hear a noise in the night I know someone's coming to kill me.  And yet I'm still alive.... hmmmm.... maybe I should lighten up a bit.  But I knew I had reason to worry yesterday.  Ben wasn't home and I was frantically calling our friend's house over and over and over for an hour trying to make sure that they were OK.  But the phone kept ringing and nobody ever picked up.  I was freaking out to the point where I was shaking, but I knew I had to hold it together for Lily and Skyler because if I freak out, they'll freak out. 

After all that time in the pantry, I finally got word that the tornado was past us and we were safe.  I kept calling to get a hold of Ben.  No answer.  Then I managed to get cell phone numbers and after a while I reached them and everyone was OK.  They had lost power so their phones weren't working.

I am just so grateful for my family and that we have all been safe.  It is such a blessing to have been spared from something so destructive, when many other people were killed.  Hopefully this tornado will be the only one for the next decade or so.  Right?  RIGHT?!

If you're interested in a short 26 second clip of the tornado that hit us go HERE.

Dear Auntie Becca, Nanni, and Papa

Dear Auntie Becca,

Thank you for caring enough about your adorable niece to let her have your old bed.  Lily is THRILLED.  As in she actually sang "Happy Birthday" to herself and even blew out invisible candles once she got under the covers.  For real.  She's THAT excited.  And it's even better that it's YOUR bed.  I mean, inheriting Curious George's bed wouldn't even be as cool to her.

And let me also say thank you for including the trundle bed that is underneath.  Because you know when you were little and the idea of evil things that just might be living under your bed (possibly poisonous snakes) kept you up at night?  No?  Oh, me either.  Well anyhoo, Lily won't have that problem. 

Love,
Heather and Ben
XO from Lily

Dear Nanni and Papa,

Thank you for paying for this bed back in the day so that now your cutest Macbeth granddaughter can enjoy your investment.  Thank you for driving it the whole 25 minutes to my house.  And thank you, Daddy, for being a trooper after you twisted your ankle in the process and still went on a walk to the lake with us that day. 

Y'all rock. 

Love,
Ben and Heather
XO from Lily

Patio Painting and Baby Smells

 Lily is my child.  She loves all things arty. She gets some of that from Ben, too, though. So I wasn't too surprised when Lily took up the practice of dipping the grill brush (good thing we don't ever use it) in the water table outside and painting the patio with water.

 I imagine that in his dreams he's saying, "Hmmmm..."

Maybe we could replicate a statue and call him "The Mini Thinker"

Nothing better than a pair of honey buns sticking up in the air.

This is going to sound horrible but my absolute favorite part of the day is when Ben and I go and tuck in the babies right before we go to bed.  Seriously, we open their door and WABAM!  All this delicious smelling air just hits ya in the nose.  Oh my gosh, y'all, I die when I smell it.  It's soooooo good.  There's no smell better than baby smell.  And honestly, I know this may sound gross too, but the sooner their baby soap smell rubs off, the better.  Their natural smell is amazing.

Lily's Quote of the Day

(we were looking at a picture of a pond)

Me: Lily, do you know what those flowers are called?

Lily: No.

Me: Those are called "lilies" just like your name.

Lily: No, those are "Skylers."

Lily is also starting to develop her own toddler jokes which are absolutely hysterical if you're sitting there with her watching her expressions as she cracks up over her own humor.  The other day we were talking about things that were in the sky (sun, clouds, birds) when she looked at me mischievously and said, "Dogs fly in the sky!" *snicker snicker* "Bunnies fly in the sky!" *snicker snicker* "Nanni flies HIGH in the sky! *full out laughing on the floor*   I sense some good days full of laughter ahead.

And thank you for your kind words about the castle.  I'm not going to lie.  It's awesome.  And if you DO live close by, seriously just give me a call and tell me you're on your way over.  We love visitors.  Just make sure your kids are wearing something that can get a little dusty from the drywall/mudding. 

Ben's Wood Project Revealed: The Castle

So back in January Ben and I had this conversation:

ME: Do you know what would be cool?

BEN:  What?

ME: If you built a "castle" the kids could play in that was 2 stories and had a slide from the top.

BEN: OK.  Let's do it. *shrugs*

I know.  It took sooooo much convincing on my part.  ;)  The next day we sat down together and started sketching out ideas.  Then Ben transformed our final sketch into mathematical measurements and started buying wood.  After framing, drywalling, and a little bit of mudding, our castle is almost complete.  (The reason why I'm revealing this before it's actually done is because Ben just agreed to help a friend redo their ceilings and will be busy for the next few weeks.  So it will be a little while before it's 100% gorgeous.)  I'll make sure I post a video tour when it's completely painted/beautified.  I couldn't post a movie today for some reason.

 The slide

It looks small from this view but that's a secret tunnel under the slide.  The kids love to crawl through it.  Ben and I can even fit through it when we slide through on our sides.

Stairs

Trivia Facts About the Castle

• Ben built it to code.  That just made me laugh when he said he'd do that.  But hey, it means it's safe.
• The floor on the 2nd story is the spare linoleum that our builder left in our house.  It matches our kitchen floor.
• We were originally planning on putting plexi-glass in the upper windows for safety but we haven't had any problems at all so far.  We're not sure if we'll do it or not.
• It cost us just over $100 to build.  Not too bad.  And it has been an AWESOME investment.  The kids play on it ALL the time.  I just hope it doesn't get old too fast.
• Both of my kids are freaked out by slides and haven't gone down by themselves yet.  Boo.  But every other kid who has played on it has used the slide like crazy.  So at least it wasn't a waste of money.  It's so sad because Lily loved going down much bigger slides by herself last year.... weird.

After I've seen about 5 billion wood projects that Ben has made in the few years of our marriage, I think this tops them all.  It's just reason # infinity and beyond why Ben is dang awesome*.

*Sorry ladies, he's taken.  Sorry children, we can't adopt you.  But feel free to come over to play whenever you want.