Big Boy Room

Thanks for the potty training suggestions the other day. I've decided not to stress over the pooping issues.....it will all work itself out in time. 

Moving on to more fun topics. I'm getting ready to move Davis out of his crib and into a big boy bed. When we were at Disney last month, he slept in a double bed by himself and did great. We didn't use rails or anything, and he slept on one side of the bed rather than the middle. He didn't fall out at all, and he also stayed put. I anticipated that he would be up and down all night, but no. So, that was good.

Luckily for me, my mom has a couple of twin beds at her house that belonged to my grandparents. Davis' room is really small, so I'm not going to try to cram two beds in there. If it was a guest room, that might be okay, but since I want him to have room for toys, we're just sticking to a single twin. I used to think that looked a bit institutional (sanatorium, anyone?), but I think that if it's done correctly, and with cute accessories, it can be a good option.

So, the bed is dark wood, something else I used to shun, but for a boy's room, I think that's fine. Plus, I can always paint it at some point if need be. The walls are currently light blue, and they're staying that way. I picked up cute madras bedding at Pottery Barn Kids a few weeks ago:

I didn't do the alligator sheets, though. I picked this train print instead:

I need to find some cute wall art, because what I have right now goes with his crib bedding. I may let Ava do some drawings or paintings with colors that coordinate with his bedding and just frame those for now. I think she'd enjoy helping out with his new room. If I'm feeling really nice, I might even let Davis paint something. 

My dilemma is that we still have the nursery rocking chair in there. It's not an ugly one.....it was my splurge when we were doing the nursery for Ava. It's upholstered, and doesn't have any exposed wood or anything like that. It looks more like real furniture. When I bought it, I really thought we would always keep it and be able to put it somewhere. Of course, now it truly feels more like a nursery piece, so I can't decide what to do with it. We have a bonus room that I'm trying to revamp, so for now, I may move it up there. I'm a little sentimental about it. I mean, that's where I spent many a night feeding and rocking my babies, and it's hard for me to let it go. 

For a new seating option for Davis, I think I'm going to get him this beanbag seat from PB Kids:

It's available in the same madras as his bedding, but I think that's just too much matching. 

I need new window treatments, too, and I'm thinking of trying out some DIY Roman shades. I'm not crafty, so we'll see how that goes. Of course, the ones from PB that are already made are awfully appealing. Especially with the blackout liners....

Those also come in the madras, but again, maybe too matchy-matchy? I don't know. 

For now, I just need to figure out when I can get to my parents' house and load the twin bed into the Odyssey. I'm hoping that will happen just after spring break. I can't wait to get the room all done!

(Mostly) Potty Trained

Disclaimer: this post contains discussion of my preschooler's bodily functions, primarily, his bathroom habits. Read at your own discretion. 

A while back, I mentioned that I was going to start potty training Davis. This was a task I should have taken on last summer, when he was a young 2. I was a little lazy, though, and despite the fact that diapers are gross, there is something easy about them.

In my mind, though, I knew I needed Davis in underwear by his 3rd birthday, which happens now to be only 6 days away. So, about 2 weeks ago, after he recovered from some nasty fever virus, I decided to just go for it. No Pull-Ups, just straight into underwear. He has done great. We've had very few accidents, unless you count the fact that the child refuses to poop in the potty. That's right. He would rather crap soil his Lightning McQueen underwear than sit on the potty to go. Peeing? Not a problem at all. He tells us when he needs to go, and even stands up sometimes. (By the way, my heart goes out to all of you with more than one boy. The mess in the bathroom is  just gross.)

I've tried several routes with the pooping issue. At first, I just threw away the dirty underwear, which Davis didn't like. Underwear with Disney characters is pretty cool, after all, and seeing it go out with the trash is no fun. He was distraught by that,  but not enough to entice him to try out the potty. I think he's scared, but I can't totally nail down the problem.

Next, I went to Target and got a toy that I know he wants. It's some airplane from Imaginext. This one, I think:

It's sitting in plain view on top of my refrigerator. I remind Davis daily that he can have it when he poops on the potty. We came really  close today, but at the last minute, he jumped off, having clearly changed his mind. The fact that he was walking around holding his little tush made it clear to me that he really needed to go. I stalked him until nap time to prevent an accident, though. Heh heh.

So, no luck with the airplane. I'm kind of at my wits' end because seriously? There is nothing worse than cleaning up after him. It's gross. If you're actually still reading this, any advice you have to get him TOTALLY trained would be so appreciated. Obviously, I don't want to make a huge deal over this and railroad the progress we have made, but if I have to clean up another pair of underwear, I may scream. Or just throw up. Because really? Yuck.

The Easter Bunny

Ava keeps telling me we need to go see the Easter Bunny.

 

I'm pretty much standing my ground with 'no' on that one. Does anyone my age recall going to talk to the Easter Bunny? Last time I checked, Easter isn't Christmas. My kids will get some candy, and maybe a stuffed animal. Maybe even a small toy. That's what I used to get, and I was happy with that. This notion of going to talk to the Easter Bunny about what you want in your basket is ludicrous to me. (By the way, I just had a lot of trouble spelling "ludicrous", and really wanted to spell it like the rapper: ludacris. That, according to spell check, is not correct).

Anyway, I'm just wondering if I'm out of the loop. Is it really a "thing" now to go and talk to the Easter Bunny? I'm good with  getting some pics with a bunny at an Easter egg hunt, but I think my kids are already spoiled enough that they don't need to be demanding gifts from some perv in a bunny suit.

 

image

But maybe that's just me.

In the meantime, I leave you with a sweet image of my peacefully sleeping eldest child. Insert "awwww" here. Or, insert, "Carter is really obnoxious with this picture" here. Whichever you prefer.

Pinterest is making me fat.

Once upon a time, I was a pretty healthy eater. Oh, I had wine o'plenty. And the occasional sweet. But I tracked calories, made sure I was eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and read healthy food blogs all the time.

Now I'm completely uncommitted to such things. Sure, I'm not eating McDonald's every day. Just Chick Fila every week. And I never look at calorie count. I guess I think I kind of know what's healthy and what's not. Most days I eat lunch at home, and it's either a sandwich or a salad. But there is a decent amount of snacking. And dessert. Man, do I have a sweet tooth.

And then there's Pinterest. I think I have pinned over  150 recipes. I have tried quite a few of them. And most of the ones I keep trying are some kind of cake, muffin, or brownie. Sometimes, things look so good that I apparently pin them twice. Like this:

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

via Pinterest

In fact, I've noticed that I have pinned quite a few desserts that involve peanut butter and chocolate. I mean, honestly folks, what's not to love? This, in particular, is a must-try for me:

 

Via Pinterest

Now, not all the food I've pinned is sinful. Some of it is healthy. I just haven't tested out any of the healthy stuff. 

Last week I made a cake from Cooking Light magazine. I have a love/hate relationship with that particular publication. If you've ever picked it up, you'll understand when I complain that most of their recipes call for now fewer than 73 ingredients. Many of those are expensive or obscure. I find it's easier to go to Trader Joe's and get some frozen entree for the family than it is to traipse around town to every ethnic market looking for bamboo shoots to go in my Asian chicken. Maybe that's just me, though.

So, the recipe I made last week was their Texas Sheet cake. It won their contest for best "light" chocolate recipe. Let me tell you: light it was not. The cake and the frosting contain a total of nearly 2 sticks of butter and five cups of sugar. And it is way too sweet. I'm not entirely sure how it won, but it doesn't make me want to rush to try out the other contenders. 

One recipe I will recommend, however, is this one, which I found off - you guessed it - Pinterest. It's not terribly light, but also not a complete gut-buster. It's meatless,  but if that doesn't appeal to you, I don't see why you couldn't add some chicken. Give it a try if you need a fairly quick weeknight meal. My kids ate it, too, so I consider it a success.

 

Find the full recipe here

(note: I was out of sour cream so I substituted Greek yogurt and it turned out great)

Oh, and I'm sure you're just dying to follow me on Pinterest, so please do so here.

Weekend

We enjoyed a fun weekend with some fantastic weather. Friday night my friend Jill and I took our kids out for pizza. They played outside for a good hour after dinner. I was a huge pig and ate four slices of pizza and had 2 Blue Moons. I guess that's why I work out, right? I might have had some chocolate cake when I got home, too.

Morgan was at the NCAA tournament in Greensboro and got to witness the big Dook loss. Go Lehigh! This kept showing up on my Facebook news feed and I thought it was pretty funny:

 

Saturday involved me trying to undo some of Friday night's caloric damage with a Spinning class. The rest of the day was filled with chores, a little work, and an excursion to Target and lululemon. The lulu trip got me in a bit of  trouble with a new shirt and shorts. 

Tracker  shorts (my favorite ever....made for "athletic" legs, which is kind of a nice way of saying chubby, I think).

 

I got these in black a few weeks ago and had to add the ultraviolet to my collection. I also threw in a Swiftly tee in lavender. 

 

I need to stay out of there. I can't seem to leave without making a purchase. However, fun workout clothes do seem to keep me motivated to get to the gym, so I guess I can consider it an investment in my health. Somehow, I don't think Morgan sees it that way. (Sorry, honey).

Yesterday was church, and then we were lucky enough to have tickets for the UNC game in Greensboro. We took the kids to my parents' house, and then headed to the game. We were able to get a quick visit with Morgan's family, including his brother. Got a cute pic of him with Davis:

John is a Duke grad, and he was the one that was gracious enough to give us his NCAA Tournament tickets. He and Davis were well-coordinated in their blues.

The game was great.....big Carolina win. Of course, it's all touch and go now with poor Kendall Marshall's broken wrist. Our seats gave us a good view of all the players.....I just love this Tar Heel team. 

Hope all of you had a good weekend, too!

The Agony of Defeat

Today, a beautiful almost-Spring day, I played in my first ever tennis match. If you recall, I started taking lessons last summer. I'm not good, but I was deemed  good enough to play on a 2.5 team. We've been doing team clinics for about 6 weeks, and let's just say that we're all beginners on our little team. Some perhaps even more beginner than me. I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, today was my first big doubles match. I had to miss clinic last week since I was sick, but I was able to play with my scheduled doubles partner for a little while Sunday afternoon. We had fun, and I was relieved to have been able to get in a little play time before the match today.

I started out the day at 5:30am with my usual Wednesday 6 mile run. As previously mentioned, I was sick last week. I have not worked out at all in 8 days. The run? It nearly killed me. In fact, around the end of mile 5, I declared that my friends were going to have to continue on without me. Since they are such great friends, they did not let me stop, and encouraged me to finish our last mile. Heather suggested I think of the Biggest Loser contestants who run a marathon at the end of their show, and that did help to make my legs feel a bit lighter. Still, I was beat.

 

Okay. Fast forward a few hours to 9:30. My partner and I fully expected a complete beating. Davis was at home sick, and Morgan was with him. I said I figured we'd lose in 2 straight sets and I'd be home at 10:30. Well, we were matched up better than anticipated. The first set took an hour, and we won 6-4. I think 80% of our games went to deuce. Second set. Another hour. We were tied at 6-6, and the other team beat us in a tie break game. That tied it up 1-1. We had to play a 10-point tie break game to settle the match, and we lost. A crushing defeat. Honestly, I could have lost 6-0, 6-0, and felt better than playing hard and well for 2.5 hours and then losing at the very end.

Still, it was great practice, and at least I've got the first match jitters out of the way.

Plus, my team outfit is super cute:



I would like this outfit in more colors, please. Thank you.

The Problem With Literate Kids

Hi all. I'm finally feeling human again.....thank God for antibiotics. I laid low most of the weekend, just trying to feel better. Watched lots of basketball, and only wept a little when my Tar Heels didn't win the ACC Tournament yesterday. I have high hopes for the NCAA tourney.

I did venture out late Saturday afternoon to take Ava to see The Lorax. Have you seen it? I loved it. One of my favorite kid movies.

I'm certainly not going to get political here, but the movie did have a strong anti-large business message that came through loud and clear. I don't watch Fox News, but I have a feeling they have probably had a lot to say about The Lorax. Either way, the movie stayed pretty true to the book, adding in some musical numbers and a few more characters. My favorite quote from the book (and movie): 

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." 

On Friday, Morgan was nice enough to work from home so that I could have him there if I felt too bad to take care of the kids. Late in the afternoon, Ava told me she really needed to tell her Daddy something. I told her she could go upstairs to tell him whatever this urgent message was, but if he was on the phone, don't bother him. She reported back that he was on the phone, and that was that.

Well, yesterday, Morgan showed me a note that she had given him when she went up there. Here it is:

Someone at our hotel let Ava and Davis pick out candy from the gift shop on our last morning there. Ava still has hers. She was hoarding it in her room, and I told her it needed to be in the pantry. She expressed a bit of concern that someone might eat it. I guess that's what inspired this note to her Daddy. 

Penmanship is not her strong suit. Nor is generosity.

Random Friday Musings

Happy Friday, y'all. I'm STILL sick, but called the doctor this afternoon and essentially begged for an anitbiotic. Like a genie in a bottle, the doctor granted my wish. While I'm happy for the drugs, I'm bummed that with such a long week, I have no desire for wine or other spirits. Stupid illness.

With my being under the weather all week, my poor house looks like an F6 tornado has come through. I'm working on gaining enough strength to at least make me want to be here for the weekend.

I braved one of my least favorite kids' spots today, Monkey Joe's, I'm not really a germophobe, but that place sure does turn me into one. Davis was especially energetic today, though, and I needed him to get some of that craziness out. Luckily, he was fixated on one particular bounce house, and I was able to read some of my book.

Speaking of my book, I'm reading one that I just love and don't want to put down. My mom gave it to me last weekend. It's called The Dry Grass of August, and it's a great Southern read.

It takes place in Charlotte and other parts of the south in the 1950s, and at the core of the novel is the relationship between the 13 year old protagonist and her black housekeeper. It reminds me a bit of The Help in that way. I'm about halfway through and just adore it.

And I'll leave y'all today on a kind of bittersweet note. One of Ava's preschool friends, Embree,  is battling Leukemia. Every family's worst nightmare, right? The family has shown so much grace throughout this frightening time, and I really admire their faith and strength. Embree's school showed their support today by all wearing "Team Embree" shirts and sending her the following video cheer:

A Big Cheer for Embree from Liisa Ogburn on Vimeo.

It made me cry, of course. Kids can be so sweet. Go, Embree! We're all rooting for you!!

Sick Day

How is it that when I used to work in an office, sick days were a treat, but now they just suck? I've been feeling under the weather the last couple of days. At first, I thought I was just worn out from the crazy-hard class I took at the gym on Tuesday. But then last night I was running a 102 fever and was convinced I had the flu. Seriously, when my fever broke, I woke up in an ocean of sweat. I had to get up and change my pajamas. At that point, Ava woke up and started calling for me, wanting to get in my bed. Argh!

I woke up feeling a smidgen better this morning, but not 100%. Went to the doctor who tested for strep and flu, both of which were negative. No drugs for me. Boo. Apparently, I am supposed to let this stuff run its course. In the meantime, I have 2 kids to take care of. Morgan took them to school for me today, but I've still had to take Davis to swim lessons, entertain him afterwards, and then pick up Ava from school. If anyone asks me what's for dinner I swear I will leave and check into a hotel for the night.

I'm hoping I'm more recovered tomorrow. I've got my first tennis match ever scheduled, and I really want to play. The weather isn't looking good for it, however, so that would actually work to my advantage.

While Davis was watching Bubble Guppies this afternoon, I learned about an upcoming flash sale site called Country Club Prep.

If you sign up to receive their sale notifications by March 15, you'll get lifetime free shipping and returns. Click  here to sign up. 

Disney Housewives & a Tasty Snack

Did you catch Saturday Night Live this weekend? Lindsay Lohan made her "comeback" and hosted. She wasn't great, and had some trouble remembering her lines. However, there was one HIGHlarious skit - The Real Housewives of Disney. Watch and be amused.

Also, I just made these energy balls and my kids (and I) can't stop eating them. Delish. And pretty healthy. So, go make them. It will take you all of 10 minutes.

image via

Happy Monday, everyone!

Medicate me. Please.

Y'all know I love my kids, right? I mean, I know I throw out some sarcastic comments about them, but I do adore them. However, this afternoon, they are driving me to the brink of insanity. Davis has been difficult all day, and Ava started whining the second I picked her up from school. (As a side note, how is it that kids can never remember what they did at school?).

I wanted to run a quick little errand (to lululemon) and Ava immediately balked. She was starving, it seemed. It's no wonder. Upon arriving home and inspecting her lunchbox, only about 1/3 of the food I packed had been consumed.

From there, we went home. I think it's maybe a 7 minute drive home. I think Ava cried or whined for 5 of those minutes. One bout of tears came when she learned that Davis had seen the Chickfila cow today. Yes, seriously. The girl just saw every princess and every character you can imagine at Disney World, and she's in tears over a damn cow. I guess I shouldn't mention to her that Davis also got a cow Pez dispenser. That might just do her in completely.

Once home, Ava ate the rest of her lunch and then a snack. She and Davis proceeded to play, which led to fight after fight, and lots of tattling. I was just trying to do some laundry and Swiffer the house, but I couldn't get a single thing finished. All I could do was referree. The most annoying thing of all is that it's pretty much Ava crying over something Davis does. She is 6 and 1/2. He is not quite 3. I tried explaining to her that he is TRYING to get her mad/upset because that's what brothers do. By reacting to him, she makes it fun for him. The poor girl just doesn't have it in her to walk away, though. She just has to engage him. And then I get furious with both of them, especially when the name-calling starts.

It's not just  Ava, though. Davis has had his own share of problems today. He has some serious throwing issues. Some hitting. And maybe some kicking. And he won't listen or really comply with my instructions.unless he's absolutely forced to do so. I've tried time out, taking toys away, taking privileges away. Nothing seems to matter. He's wearing me out, and I really hope it's just a phase. Thank God he's cute, and that he also knows to give out unsolicited hugs and "I love yous." Otherwise, I might have to sell him.

I think we're still in vacation detox mode. Both kids seem especially tired, and why wouldn't they? We had five full days in Kid Heaven. Rules were bent, bedtimes were late, and naps for Davis took place in a stroller, and never exceeded an hour. I'm hoping for a relatively low-key weekend so that everyone can really recover.

Oh, but did I mention we're starting potty training this weekend? That should make things muuccchh easier.

Sorry for the blogging break, but we just returned from a big Disney vacation, so I'm in full recovery mode. That means tons and tons of laundry, and reminding my kids that neither Mickey Mouse nor Cinderella will be making any in-home appearances. Reality is tough, isn't it?

I haven't uploaded any pictures yet, so I'll save my Disney recap for next week. Today, I thought I'd share a few things I'm currently loving.

Angie's Kettle Corn:

This comes from Costco (smaller bags are available at Target), and it is like crack. I have to hide it from Morgan when I bring it home. My family can plow through a huge bag in no time flat. Never has there been a better kettle corn. Never. 

Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper

I don't know how long this little treat has been around, but it's a recent discovery for me. Apparently, it's like the holy grail of diet soda, because I find it a little elusive. Luckily, Target usually has a good supply. 

The Hunger Games movie. I can't wait for this to come out. I don't know if there's anyone left who hasn't read the books, but they're fantastic. Don't read them for the wonderful prose - you won't find that. But the story is just entirely captivating, and you will love it. I will be at this movie ON March 22. 

Colored denim. I just love all the brights for spring. I picked up some skinny purple cords at Ann Taylor loft recently, and I love them. Next on my radar are these green jeans from J.Crew:

That's all for now. Davis is recovering from a rather traumatic first swim lesson (meaning he cried almost the whole time), and I need to wake him shortly so we can get in the dreaded carpool line. Maybe he'll be okaty if I just leave him here while I go? KIDDING.