Can you relate?

My aunt sent me this email today. I don't think she even knows that we are knee-deep in potty training right now. Maybe because I am, I found this so funny. I was crying from laughing so hard. Hopefully it will tickle your funny bone too.

A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's rest-room stall. By Shannon Popkin
My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the rest-room. If you'd been one of the ladies in the rest-room that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall: 'Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?' At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued, 'Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh .. Mommy! I'm trying to see in dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!' I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming newborn when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, 'Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy we'll both have some!' ' No, I'm trying>to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!' He started to gag at this point. 'Uh oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!' As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone. 'Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!' He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door. 'Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at, Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?' More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation. 'Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.' He started pounding on the door. 'Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!' I saw that my 'wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, 'Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?' But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow. (Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids, Michigan , where she no longer uses public restrooms.)

52 Blessings Project

Since I finally got on my blog to update yesterday, I also finally checked out some friends's blogs. On Katie and Christin's I found the 52 Blessings Project. I LOVE that idea! So I'm a little late and will have to make up the last 4 weeks, but better start now than never. The idea of the 52 Blessings Project is this: Once a week post a photo of something you are most grateful for. This gives us a chance to reflect on the good things we have learned from or that have made us better in our everyday lives or things we just enjoy! I think everyone needs to be more grateful for what they have now days instead of always thinking about what we want! This is one of the things we can do to be more gracious people. It will be like a photo gratitude journal.

So my Blessing for this week is President Gordon B. Hinckley.

I am so thankful to have lived while he lead and guided our church. He was such a wonderful, loving man, and he inspired me to be a better person. He was 97 years old when he passed, and he will be missed.

Potty Training

Oh, it's been a long couple of weeks. Good, but long. Why, you ask? (not really unless you ignored my title) We started potty training a week and a half ago. Caden's been pretty good. If I take him to the bathroom every hour then we are ok. But he doesn't ever initiate wanting to go on the toilet. Quite the contrary, sometimes he's kicking and screaming not to go. Then there is #2. Everyday he goes in his pants - he hasn't made that connection yet to go in the toilet. So moms, another poll if you will. How do I help him go #2 in the potty and not his underwear? And will he initiate going to the potty by himself at some point? I realize it's only been 12 days, but it's been a long 12 days! I need to call the carpet cleaner!!
To top it all off, I started a diet. Now I'm not a big dieter. Never have been. In fact I think the only time I've ever been on one was Weight Watchers for a week. I lost 5 pounds and found out I was pregnant with Soleil. (you can't do WW while you are pregnant.) One of my dear college friends is getting married in March in Philly. We are going (yeah!), and since it's only an hour from Scott's parents, they are going to watch the kids for us. I'm excited - so fun! HOWEVER, there will a few other college friends at the wedding too. Now, maybe I am shallow, but I do not want to see these people while I am retaining this much extra weight. It's been 10 years (give or take a few) and I probably won't see them again, and this is not the lasting memory I want them to have. Vain and shallow, I know. But it's good motivation for me. My dear, dear friend Jen is a runner - like does marathons and stuff - and has graciously let me puff along beside her once a week so I can try to become more runner-ish. (Thanks to my bus accident, I run like a gimp. Seriously. I call it my whip-kick.) I will never be a runner, but I can aspire. And our swim class just started back up, so between that, running, and doing weights on Fridays, I can drop 15 pounds in 6 1/2 weeks, right? To show how serious I am about this - I SWITCHED TO DIET COKE. I can't stand Diet Dr. Pepper - I am a purist - so I had to switch to Coke. Or Pepsi - I don't care which one. But that is commitment on the highest level for me. (if you happen to own any stock in Dr Pepper, you might consider selling it. At least until mid-March when the wedding is over.) So far I am down 3 pounds. Very exciting. I'll keep you posted.
And a shout out to Diane! I am so excited you joined us bloggers now instead of stalking silently. You are hilarious, and I can't wait to see what comments you have for us all!

What to do?

To go along with one of my New Year's Resolutions (be more organized), I was cleaning out my catch-all drawer at the computer. I found all of Caden's art projects from school. I don't know what to do with all of it. Do I save it, thinking one day he'll get a kick out of seeing his art projects from when he was 3? Or do I toss it? This is a question I'd like feedback on....do you save or toss? And if you save, what do you save it in? These projects aren't all in a nice 8x10 size - some are really big. Suggestions?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We got back from our holiday travels a couple of days ago, and I'm finally sitting down to the computer to check emails and pay bills. We had a fun albeit cold trip to Idaho to spend Christmas with my family. It snowed constantly! I have forgotten what a real winter is like in Idaho. The snow was beautiful, but brrr! Thankfully Scott was willing to do all the outside activities with Caden. We went up to my family's cabin in Island Park on Christmas Day and stayed the rest of our trip there. The snow is so deep at the cabin that if you walk off the porch, you don't sink down at all. (see picture!) The snow is packed down pretty well, or we could have lost Caden! He loved playing in the snow, but only for 15 minutes at a time. Then he'd be ready to come in and get warmed up again. Just like his mom! The real fun of our trip was when Scott and I stuck the snowmobiles in tons of snow. The kind where you step down, and lose your boot 2 feet down in snow as you pull your foot out again. We did manage to get both snowmobiles out finally! Then the next day on our drive back to IF, I got the Xterra stuck in a snow drift. Mind you, it's been over a decade since I drove in snow on a regular basis. I was trying to avoid on oncoming car and gave him too much room. My wheels caught the ice ridge on the side of the road and 100 feet later, we were stuck. Scott, Stormie and I dug for half an hour before some people stopped to help push. (Thank you!) The kids were thoroughly entertained watching our heads bob up and down, so they were great. After those 2 experiences, I am convinced I am a warm-weather gal. Sorry, Mom, you'll never get me closer to IF - it's too dang cold!

My brother Forest is on a mission right now, so my sister printed out a picture of his face and put it on a stuffed mannequin. So this is Forest enjoying the Christmas morning festivities. We miss you, Forest!!

Caden is totally into all things Polar Express right now. He tells everyone he meets about it! This is him opening up his big present from Santa, a Polar Express train set. You can see Gordon and Henry are already in his hands. (for those of you who don't know Thomas the Train characters, consider yourselves lucky!) If you look closely, you can see (part of) my present from my favorite blue box bling'ing on my wrist. Santa stopped at my favorite store before heading to Idaho. Thank you, Santa!!

I had to add this picture because it is so precious. Soleil is finally starting to like being read to. She and Scott read that book 10 times in a row. She loves her daddy! (And a shout out to Star, lounging on the LoveSac in the background. Happy grading papers!)

And yes, that is the Forest mannequin. He went to the cabin with us. I think he even went snowmobiling at one point. Shout out!!