Wordless Wednesday Post

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As if . . .

As if life wasn't busy enough, I thought we'd throw potty training in the mix. Yes, our little baby boy is now a big boy!

He's 31 months and from what I can remember the girls started way before that age. Any of you readers that have more than one child can understand that the first child isn't as hard to potty train in the sense that you have more time to work with them. Our second, Madison was a different story. We had started to potty train her but she regressed when baby brother came along. So I decided to wait until he was ready -- as my MIL says, "he won't go to college in diapers."

As you can see in the video below, Isaiah loves M&Ms (or nem, nems as he likes to call them). Don't ask me why he says it with his tongue hanging out!?! He say mommy, milk and other "m" words without sticking out his tongue. It is hillarious other than the fact that it makes him drool even more -- another thing I hope he won't be going to college doing!

So we got smart about the whole "nem, nems" thing and decided to make them his prize for going potty (and shame on the person that give them to him for any other reason)! He's done pretty good so far. He's made quite a few attempts with a high proficiency rate, but he gets defensive if you make him go -- like setting the timer for every 30 minutes trick. I've gotten busy with laundry and other things and haven't pushed the potty thing the last few days. I'll occasionally ask him if he has to go or he usually wakes up saying, "potty - nem, nems" or will periodically walk into the bathroom and go on his own.

I'm enjoying one of the last baby stages of our children. It's SO much less stressful on mommy taking this approach. Plus it's cute to see his little cheeks and see how excited he gets as he runs to the bathroom screaming, "Do -- nem, nems!" (because he gets two for going potty) or clapping and saying, "Yay!"

Random Photos

I was looking thru some photos yesterday and decided to put a couple of them on the blog. In no particular order from various dates . . .

Madison painting a piggy bank she received at her birthday party.

Makenna was lying on the couch because she wasn't feeling well and Patches jumped up to be with her. He must know he's her cat.

Isaiah still loves his "ractees"! This was after Christmas when he acquired a few more tractors.

We've had over 12" of snow. The girls love to go out and play in it, but it has also been bitter cold. I did let them go out once. They had a great time.

Don't know why, but they feel the need to clear off as many surfaces that they can.

Isaiah and his (lactose-free) ice cream with "GO STEE-RS" (Steelers) black & gold sprinkles. Can you tell the kid LOVES ice cream?!?

Momma has given in and let the cat in on the really cold night. I'd say he enjoys being warm and cozy inside.

Sick & Tired

If the title doesn't give it away, I'm in a negative mood. I've tried again and again to be positive. I even got up early, showered, got dressed (as in non-lounge clothes . . . One charming child even asked where we were going. Thanks charming child! Happens that said child already commented on mommy's fat arms and thighs this week! Way to boost your self esteem.), put on make-up, then got to work. That lasted about 10 minutes until the kids started "not getting along." Interruption 1 out of 5,492!

We've been pretty much stuck at home since last Saturday. We ran out once Wednesday to grab ginger ale and bananas since the last one of the us got the flu Tuesday. We're snowed in. We had a neighbor's dad plow our driveway yesterday so I was able to get out and do my bi-weekly shopping, but how fun is that when you're racing against time to get home before the big snow storm hits and shopping with 3 kids?!? Daddy's been working late all week. We're hoping (against hope I might add) that he'll leave early and not get snowed in at work. The days are long to say the least. Makenna didn't go to school Wednesday or Thursday since she was sick and there was a snow day today. If it wasn't for the hassle of bundling everyone up, keeping an eye on them and trying to warm them back up when they came inside, I'd send them outside to run off some of their energy . . . Thank the Lord for Little Girls Baking Club tomorrow!

I have so been wanting to blog but don't feel I should when there are dirty dishes in the sink, laundry and school to be done. (Not that it is now. I just had to take a break!) I'd love to get caught up and then designate one evening a week or some small amount of time to work on a post or two. Right now the Christmas post is overwhelming. There are so many cute pictures and stories to tell, but they take time to upload. I thought of making a few collages, but the pics still need uploaded, edited, etc. HUH! (As Zaya likes to say. He's picked that up from Mama after things go wrong. Lovely example that I am, I know.)

Life isn't bad compared to most . . . we ARE so blessed. I just had to vent to make myself feel better. So please excuse the rant (all two of you that ready my blog -- ha!) Sleeping on the floor or recliner a few days last week with multiple interruptions (every 30 to 60 minutes a couple nights) really doesn't help. Thankfully everyone is healthy and it's almost the weekend when Daddy will be home to round up the troops and tend to the wood burner -- two things that get under my skin easily when I want to get work done. Seems like I'm having to stop every 10 minutes to give attention to one or the other.

To end on a happy note, here's a video I took a few days ago. I hope you can hear it well enough. Madi received a Christian Nursery Rhyme Book for Christmas. So Makenna decided to teach Zaya a nursery rhyme (kinda). They say, "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty fell of the wall." and then proceed to fall on the floor. Isaiah's version is more like "Dumtpy, Dumtpy, Dumpty, Dumpty, Wall!"