Katie's special trip

Because Katelyn's birthday is two days before Christmas, we try to celebrate about a month early. That way, she's about sick of her birthday presents just in time to get new ones for Christmas. I have been waiting since before Katelyn was born to take her to Build A Bear. Purely for her enjoyment, not mine, in case you're wondering. I was really tempted to do it last year, but I wanted to make sure that she was old enough to get the most out of the experience. So on Saturday, John and Carter and I took Katelyn to the mall to create her new best friend.

It was so hard to pick an animal. Especially because every time she fell in love with one, we gave her the stuffingless body and she was severely disappointed. She did not want to take home a lifeless shell of a pet.

She was mesmerized by the stuffing machine.

Look at her face! She so tenderly brushed her bear in the fake bathtub. She loves to tell people how she gave her bear a bath and fluffed him up with the brush.

Dad helps her try the princess dress on her bear.

This is Lizzy. She was set on naming her Katelyn, but we convinced

her to share her middle name (Elizabeth) instead.

As we should have expected, the box was the most exciting part! She is still carrying it around with a collection of toys inside, despite its broken handles and dilapidated condition. John and I thought this was the cutest thing ever:


By the way, these days I find myself wondering daily if Katelyn is turning 4 or 14. Tonight she called to me from her bed and asked me if she could get out. I said no, and she did her best to reason with me. "I have to tell you something. It's just better if I tell the truth." (You can tell that we've been working on the truth vs. lying issue.) "Sometimes people just need to hop out of their beds." This was said in all seriousness, and when it didn't work, she tried this tactic. "Just listen. It's really simple. You just have to let kids hop out of their beds." I had to put my head down and shield my face with my hand so that she couldn't see me laughing. It cracked me up, especially since she sounds so much like me!

A Sizeable Dilemma

Just moments ago, Tanner came running in yelling, "Pooh Bear's stuck in a Rabbit hole!" I ran outside, camera in hand, to find this :


(OK, I may have manipulated the situation just a little for the photo op.)

Little Nothings

"I'm a princess!" That was Carter, walking out of Katie's bedroom after dinner with her flowered princess headband on his head and pretty silver beads around his neck. John, Tanner, and I were still at the table finishing up our dinner and we all burst out laughing. I'm glad my hubby isn't too masculine to get a laugh out of things like that. If I had been thinking I would have snapped a photo. We'll be teasing him about that forever, I have a feeling.

Obviously I don't have anything earth-shattering to blog about. The potty training is going really well. Carter had the beginnings of an accident this morning, but then lasted the rest of the day through two separate trips to the library, a trip to Walmart, and an hour in the car driving to pick up Tanner and bring him back here. He's a little stud.

I'm very grateful for friends today. I had a really meaningful conversation with a new friend in my neighborhood today and that felt great. I also had several much-needed talks with one of my sisters on the phone throughout the day. Then one of my best friends called me tonight just to check on me, and I think it was inspired, because I really needed talk to her.

On another, very random, note: Check this site out. Flylady.com It's super fun to read if you're nerdy like me. My friends have no need for such a thing (this means you, Elise, if you're reading this), but it's still fun to see how other people organize their lives.

Day 2 O' the Potty

Yesterday I wasn't so sure if this whole potty thing was going to work out. Carter is so young! But after today, I'm feeling better about it. We kept up the same routine, where I have him get on the potty every half hour or so. I tried to keep stretching the time between trips. He did so awesome. He insisted on wearing underwear to bed for his nap, and he stayed dry for the whole 2 1/2 hours! The only accident of the entire day was right before bed, when I let him run around naked before bath time and I wasn't really paying attention. He was able to stop himself and finish on the potty. Maybe I'm getting too detailed. Anyway, I think Carter is actually getting the hang of it.


I just have to say, it was a hard day. The second day in a row of staying home all day. The second full day of struggling to accomplish anything because most of my time was spent in the bathroom. I found myself thinking once, as I sat on the floor in the bathroom doorway while Carter did his business, "Am I contributing anything at all in this world?" I was able to reason that it is something to help a member of society learn good bathroom habits. With this attitude, I started dinner and turned it into a cooking lesson for Katie. Now she knows how to peel carrots and wash celery.


I had this feeling all day that I am a big fat nothing. I was obviously feeling pretty down. Luckily I had a good experience right before putting Katie to bed. We were going over her letters, and to shake it up a bit, I had her write them instead of reciting each letter and its sound. She can write almost all of them with no help. We practiced the ones that are difficult for her - z, w, s - a couple of times. I was amazed at how smart she is. I don't know how she's internalized all of this stuff so quickly, basically on her own. This was the first time I've actually sat down with her to show her how to write, and she already knows it all!


I'm really not trying to brag - I know that those of you whose children are past this stage are thinking, "Yeah, that's how it works. They're pretty smart little buggers." I remember watching Alisa's little Maryn and being amazed at how quickly she picked up reading. And I remember thinking Elise's Sam was so smart when he could write his name in chalk on their patio. I'm very excited that it's my turn to watch my little girl learn.

I know I'm rambling. I guess what I'm trying to say is this. I know that what we do as mothers is so important, and that we really make a difference in the world with what we teach our children. I just wish that it wasn't so hard to feel important as a stay-at-home mom. There is so much more recognition and validation when you have a career outside of the home. I'm very lucky to have a husband who supports what I do. He has spent the evening pointing out all of the things our kids can do because of my teaching and guidance. Thanks for that, sweetie. I really do love being a mom. Sounds like I should get out of the house tomorrow, huh?!

A Whole Lot O' Potty

Before we found this book at the library, Carter didn't know who Ernie was. (If my kids watch Sesame Street, it's only for Elmo's World.) But who can resist that huge orange head with the little black tuft of hair on top? Seriously, Carter fell in love with Ernie! He had shown interest in sitting on the potty a few times after seeing Katie do it, but this really made it interesting for him. So for the last 6 or 8 weeks, Carter has gone #1 on the potty at least once a day. He can take off his pants and climb up onto the big potty all by himself!

I went to get a diaper for Carter when he woke up this morning and realized that we're down to our last 1/4 of a box (that's about 44 diapers in the giant Costco box). Being the cheapskate that I am, I decided today was the day. I'm going to train him before I have to buy diapers again. So we put on his Thomas the Train underwear and got started.

What a day! I set a timer for 20 minutes after the first potty trip. For the rest of the morning, I had him go and then set the timer for 20 minutes again, over and over and over and over. I put a diaper on him for his nap. After naptime, we went to 30 minutes. He only had two accidents all day, and I consider them my fault because I ignored the timer for a few minutes both times.

I was way behind on laundry this morning, so I also had a timer going off every hour to change loads. So you can imagine my day - laundry from dryer to basket, laundry from washer to dryer, new load in washer & scrub out the stains from the kids' clothes, take Carter to potty, fold and put away laundry, try to work on other cleaning projects, take Carter to potty, start laundry regimen again. It was actually a productive day. I cleaned and organized my bedroom (which has been a dumping ground and completely ignored while I've been focusing on painting), including the closet, and cleaned and vacuumed the van.

I hope I'm not going about this potty training thing all wrong. I really messed it up with Katelyn, starting and stopping and using Pull-Ups and then not. This time I just want to do it once and make it stick. I've been holding off, but he really seems to want to do it. I know he's little, so I hope it's not too soon. Wish me luck! We'll be doing the same routine tomorrow!

Patience is a virtue

I was putting Carter to bed on Thursday night when my phone rang. It was the plain old ring tone that I've designated for callers who are not in my phone book. When the caller identified himself as a member of the bishopric, it didn't occur to me at first that I was getting the dreaded phone call. I was actually caught off guard a little when he asked me to speak in Sacrament meeting. I haven't been asked to give a talk since I was a teenager. I asked him what the topic would be, and he told me that I could choose a topic. That scared me to death, so he started listing topics. When he said "patience," I knew it was meant to be. For the past few weeks, I have really been focusing my efforts on being a more patient, kind mom. I am far from mastering it, but I feel like it helps just to keep it in mind as I go about my day. Well, believe me, it's hard to yell at your kids when you're preparing a talk about patience! I wrote my talk on Friday while the kids napped, so I had the rest of the day and Saturday to go over it, out loud, and in my mind. I made changes here and there, and felt pretty prepared when I woke up yesterday. I wish that would help me to not feel nervous, but I have a real problem with performance anxiety! By the time it was my turn to get up, I thought I would fall down just getting from my seat to the podium because I was shaking so badly! It went ok, besides the fact that I spent far too much time with my head down - every time I looked up I was afraid I'd lose my place.

Anyway, I'm glad that I said yes and challenged myself to speak in public on a topic that I really need help with myself. It really is a growing experience, isn't it? Thanks so much to my sweet husband for being there to support me, and to my sister and my good friend Becky, who drove all the way to my neighborhood just to show me they care.

My smart little pre-schooler

Katie wrote her name for the first time today! A few months ago, she started noticing letters everywhere, so I decided to take advantage of her interest. I bought her an alphabet chart with pictures above the letters, and we started going over the letters and their sounds every night before bed. (We have a number chart that we go over as well.) From the beginning, she was the one reminding me that we needed to "do her letters." She gets to put stickers on a chart every time, working toward a prize at the dollar store when she fills up a row. It has been fun to watch her learn and have fun doing it.

A few weeks ago, she decided that she wanted to write letters. She got out her chart and some paper, and traced the letters with her finger before writing them on paper. This was her own idea, and I was so excited to see her form the letters with her pen and then show me her work. I suggested that she write words - she knows how to spell her own name, and mom and dad - but she didn't like that idea. She's been writing random letters all over coloring books and every paper in the house ever since then. But tonight, sitting at the table waiting for dad to get home for dinner, she wrote her name. She didn't ask for any help - I didn't even know she was doing it until she was done.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled! I haven't pushed anything, and I'm not in a rush for Katelyn to start reading. But she has a mind of her own, and she's ready to use it. We're already sounding out words in the books I read to her, and we bought some flash cards with sight words that we're starting to go over at night in addition to the other stuff. It is so rewarding to see that what I'm doing is working. And of course, I think my child is the smartest 3-year-old ever!