Public Potty Pros!

Well, I wouldn’t exactly call us “pros”, but I do love me some alliteration.

We took our first day trip on Saturday since the Potty-capades began over a month ago. I am so proud to report that we all came home wearing the same pants we left in!

We made our first stop about an hour after we left the house, at a mall where I had one quick errand. Just across the street from the mall is a Krispy Kreme donut shop…the taste of my childhood. We don’t have one in our town, so it’s a huge treat to see that “Hot Now” sign flashing before my eyes.

We picked up a handful of donuts and some milk, and fed the girls a very sinful snack at the mall’s food court. I took care of my errand, and we were ready to be on our way.

If I let myself, I can assume quite the ostrich mentality, preferring to stick my head in the sand and hope if I don’t see any issues, then none will arise. (Others might use the phrase “ignorance is bliss”, but I any time I can think about having sand between my toes, I like to do so.)

I resisted the temptation of that warm sand, took a deep breath, and asked Baby A if she needed to go potty before we left the mall. Wide eyed, she said, “Yes.”

I left Baby B to hang out with Daddy (no way was I offering a diaper change unnecessarily!), and Baby A and I entered the ladies’ room.

I pulled out of my trusty bag a nifty little travel potty seat, similar to the one we have for our upstairs potty. She sat right down and did her business…viola!

And viola! I whipped out a dozen or so baby wipes and proceeded to sanitize the both of us, as well as any and all affected surfaces, as best I could.

Baby A was so taken with the experience, she asked to go again immediately as soon as we walked out of the bathroom. More baby wipes, please!

She later went at the restaurant where we had lunch (not twice, but THREE times), and she went yesterday (twice) at the ice cream shop where we enjoyed a Memorial Day afternoon treat.

The back-and-forth is well familiar to me, as it is very similar to what we went through those first few days of using the potty at home. I’m taking deep breaths, recognizing that she’s just enjoying the new experience…and in the meantime I’ve stocked up on lots of travel wipes.

All in a day's work!

And the Winners Are...

And the winners of my Kick Off Summer Give-Away, who will no doubt be sporting some of the cutest flip-flops of the season...are...

Barb of My Sweet Life with Two Twinkies and a Cupcake!

...and...

Johanna of The Baker Twins!

Thank you so much to everyone who entered...and who shared their favorite things about summer. Especially after this holiday weekend, I am READY! :)

Barb and Johanna, please send me your email addresses so I can let you know next steps in choosing your colors and sizing. Thanks again!

Old Rivers Run Deep

(After a quick Google search, I realized why that idiom didn’t quite sound right…it’s “Still waters run deep,” but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

I got to enjoy some time on Saturday with my best friend Alison.

Alison and I met in business school. She knew me before husband, before job, before cats, and a long, long time before kiddos.

After we graduated, we both went our separate ways. Over the next four years, we lived in three states. She was doing consulting work, travelling all over the country…sometimes staying in one spot for a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months.

For the past 11 years, though, no matter how crazy our schedules were, we always managed to stay in close touch.

We’d see each other if she happened to be travelling in my direction, or we’d coordinate trips home together so we could spend some time in Sweet Home Alabama. And we always talk on the phone at least once a week.

Alison was her usual, awesome, supportive self through my pregnancy, also hosting a beautiful baby shower for me at her house…but she was extra incredible after the girls were born.

Even though she wasn’t a mom yet herself, she seemed to know exactly how much I needed her support during those first few crazy months.

We talked frequently on the phone, and she spent a couple of weekends with us – once when the girls were seven weeks old, and then again when they were five months old. Those were fantastic…we didn’t log any spa time, or extravagant dinners, or shopping trips (as our “girl time” often consisted of)…she just fed and burped babies…but it was SO what I needed to be able to share with her!

Alison is very smart, and very compassionate. She truly listens when I talk to her. She’ll offer advice, but not on a whim. Her feedback is always well thought-out, and – even if she doesn’t know “the answer” – she always gives me something to think about.

Since Alison found out she was pregnant when the girls were about seven months old, we’ve seen each other only a precious few times in the past two years.

Once was when I left the girls for the first time – for TEN HOURS! – and drove down to host her baby shower. It was a whirlwind trip…but come hell or high water, I wasn’t going to miss that for the world. Then last fall I took a shorter day trip to meet her for lunch between my place and hers. By any other standard it would have seemed insane to drive so far for a quick lunch, but it was completely worth it.

And Saturday Alison and her hubby were in Nashville for a concert. We made a day trip out of it to meet them for lunch. It was not exactly relaxing…as we were balancing a couple of crazy babes (mine!)…but I didn’t care.

Sadly, I have yet to meet Alison’s sweet baby girl. We exchange war stories and pictures all the time, so I feel like I know her, but that will be a pretty special time, seeing our girls together.

There’s just something about being with Alison – or even talking with her on the phone for 10 minutes – that reminds me who “me” is. And that’s a good thing.

***

There's still time to enter my flip-flop giveaway! Click HERE, and then just post a comment -- easy-peasy! -- through 8pm CDT tonight.

Super 6 Saturday

Friday's post was dedicated to ME, so a quick wave of my magic wand turns my usual Fab 5 Friday into a Super 6 list today!

Lots of super [and fabulous] stuff to report...

1) For the second weekend in a row, we visited the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, and then ate a late breakfast (a mid-morning snack for the girls) at Panera. We saw a number of the same people there that we’d seen the week prior, including several children. The girls made the rounds before we left, waving to their “friends” and telling them to “have a good day!”

2) Saturday night we went to a birthday party for our twin friends who live in our neighborhood. The girls had a great time playing with some of their friends, and it was so nice that they ate like champs! I remember the party from last year…we fed the girls at home before we went. It’s so freeing to be able to walk out the door with nothing in hand but a birthday present.

3) On Sunday, we went to a reception for “Aunt” Karen’s little sis, who just graduated from medical school (go, Sarina!!!). My sweet babies acted like little ladies! Granted, we didn’t stay long – I didn’t want to push my luck! – but we had a great time, and so did they.

4) I’d gotten the girls dressed to go to the birthday party on Saturday, and I wanted to make their picture. I was trying to bribe them to stand next to each other. Unprompted, Baby A lunged at Baby B, gave her a big hug, and said, “We’re family!”

5) The girls have been playing “birthday party” all week. We have sung countless renditions of the “Happy Birthday song”. They always make a gift to take the birthday girl / dog / bear…usually a Megablock structure of some sort, but occasionally they’ll branch out and offer a specific stack of books. I love that they are understanding the concept of gift-giving…and I’ve been trying to emphasize how special it is to make a gift (even a lopsided block tower).

6) Daddy cut the grass on Friday afternoon. Although we’d had similar exchanges before, it had been a while…unprompted, the girls each told Daddy “The grass is very pretty…thank you,” when he came inside. I think it made his toil and trouble worth it.

And a quick update on the Potty-capades…

…Baby A used the potty away from home for the first time this week! We were at the birthday party (at my friend’s house) on Saturday when she told me she needed to go. No problem…she handled it like a champ!

…I asked Baby B last weekend when she was going to start making tee-tee and stinkies on the potty (as she still just sits several times a day). Very matter-of-factly, she said, “Tuesday.” Several days later I realized I hadn’t asked her to specify which Tuesday…I’ll know better next time. HA!

52 Weeks of ME! Challenge

Today the Dolli family is celebrating Ky and Cadee's first birthday! Dollimama is taking the day off, putting her feet up, and soaking in all those special moments.

(Or, if she's anything like me on our girls' first birthday, she may be running around with cupcake batter on her elbows, powdered sugar icing in her hair, gift wrap tailing from her skirt hem...all the while trying to still feed and clothe a couple or three kiddos...but who's counting?)

In any case, I'm honored to be able to give dollimama the day to focus on her family...and take over hosting my very favorite link-up -- the 52 Weeks of ME! Challenge -- for this week!

As a mom, I think it can be pretty easy for me to lose sight of myself. My kiddos garner 99.7% of my focus...that's my job, right?

Dollimama's challenge is for us to do one "something" for ourselves each week...to recharge our batteries, to indulge our interests. And I think that ultimately makes me a better mom.

There are some weeks I do "big" things...like enjoy a rare date night with my hubby, or steal away for a couple of hours to indulge in a pedicure with a girlfriend. More often than not, though, I have to dig a little deeper to think about doing something for myself.

For me, that's the beauty of this weekly challenge...I don't always have the time or the resources for something "big"...but it's just as much about realizing some of the "little" things during the course of my week that help me remember who "me" is.

It may be a cup of coffee at the bookstore...or a new set of notecards...or letting the laundry sit unfolded while I enjoy a bubble bath and an early bedtime.

Whatever it is, I love stepping back at the end of the week to appreciate that "me" time, even if I don't have freshly painted toenails to prove it.

So what did I do for myself this week???

On a whim, I bought myself a new CD, the latest from Los Lonely Boys. Being waaaay out of mainstream media these days, I didn't even realize they had a new CD, so it was such a pleasant surprise for it to catch my eye when I was walking through Target.

I love their "Texican" style of rock and roll...it always puts me in a great mood...and now just to find the time to listen to it! Maybe that will be next week's indulgence! :)

Now it's YOUR turn!

What did you do this week to get your groove back???

And don't forget to zip over to dollimama's blog to wish Ky and Cadee a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It's Their Business

A few weeks ago, in one of my (many) Potty-capades posts, I talked about how Baby A was wearing…me…OUT with her shenanigans. She was playing as much as she was peeing, but I was hesitant to discipline her very much for fear of discouraging her potty training.

Lauren posted a comment that really stuck with me.

“Kids play. They don’t have boundaries as to where their play happens.”

How many parenting books have I read…how many expert interviews have I considered on any number of given topics…and in some form or fashion, we are reminded of that very point.

A child’s work is her play. It’s how she learns.

And oh, by the way, children are not simply miniature adults. Treating them as such is not particularly effective, and it will probably result in a lot of frustration for the parent and the kid.

From the girls’ infancy, I put some pretty solid boundaries in place. They have a definitive sleep schedule that I adhere to at almost all costs. They follow a healthy diet with a variety of foods, and I feel strongly about not offering numerous alternatives if they don’t like something I’ve served.

In many ways, my girls know what to expect from me and from their environment, and I think this helps keep their behavior in line, and helps them organize their thoughts for learning [another recurring theme in a lot of those parenting books]…

…but how else can I expect my girls to learn about a NEW situation than through experimentation and play?

They test their boundaries. They figure out what flies and what doesn’t. They push and pull and poke and prod to see how something works, what elicits a reaction.

I’m not saying I’m ready to pull the ladder over to let the girls climb clear to the chandelier, so they can swing from it and learn for themselves about the concept of the pendulum.

I still think there’s a time and a place for play, and there’s another time and a place to mind your manners, like at the dinner table.

But I am saying I’ll try to dig a little deeper into the Well of Patience…to step back a little bit and remember WHY Baby A has to mess with the toilet paper roll every.single.time. she goes to the bathroom.

Soon enough she'll figure it out for herself (and then move on to play with something else)...and that's just part of a healthy, playful childhood.

***

If you haven't already done so, please click HERE to check out my very first give-away...awesome flip-flops to help support my friend's adoption fundraising efforts...thanks so much!!!

Kick Off Summer with a Give-away for a Great Cause!

Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer, and I, for one, am ready to kick off my shoes and start living in flip-flops for the next few months. (Who am I kidding...I live in flip-flops as long as the temperature is above freezing!)

I am so excited to be hosting my first give-away...and for a cause that is very close to my heart, at that.

I first met my dear friend Jenny in the prenatal classes at the local hospital. Her sweet boy/girl twins were born exactly one week before my girls, and I was so happy to reunite with her a few months later through friends of friends.

Jenny is now my go-to twin mama...she just knows stuff, ya know? She is such a beautiful mother, and her kiddos are pretty awesome, too.


(The Borders family at the girls' birthday party in January)

Jenny and her hubby are working to expand their family through adoption. They are looking forward to welcoming two Congolese babies into their family!

To help raise funds to bring their babies home, Jenny is making the most adorable flip-flops...

...and I am giving away two pairs! (Click HERE to see more of Jenny's flip-flop creations.)

To enter, just leave a comment on this post, telling me your favorite thing about summer...easy-peasy!

And if you'd like to leave Jenny a note in support of her journey, I know she'd appreciate that, too.

And feel free to zip over to her blog. Specifically, you can read more about her adoption journey HERE.

One entry per person, and I'll select two winners at random on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30. The winners can choose the size of their flops (Jenny has both youth sizes 8 and up, as well as adult sizes), and the colors.

Thanks so much for your support! Happy Summer!