My Life is in the Toilet

Okay, so the picture doesn't really match the title. But I didn't really want to take any 'action' shots of our potty training endeavors. Besides, I like this picture and have been meaning to post it for a while. I got these rock out of my great aunt Laverna's rock garden in Kanab, UT. Yes, some of family roots are in Kanab; if you're the same we're probably related.

So the potty training. I feel like I spend all my time in the bathroom. But that's because I do. The first day was rough. WAY rough. No success and a boat load of laundry. But yesterday started a lot better. Lance was able to get Spencer to go in the potty lots of times. SUCCESS! In fact, the first accident we had that day was in part because I set the timer literally one minute to long and in part because Spencer was having way too much fun working outside with his dad. But then that night, at a 4th of July BBQ we went to (to which I forgot my camera - doh!) he had four accidents in a row. I ran out of clean pants, so we had to go home and get more before going to the Yarrington's to see the fireworks. It was really discouraging. (Spencer's accidents, not the Yarringtons or the fireworks. :) Oh well. I knew he'd probably have an accident, but not that many! *sigh*

So far, he hasn't had an accident today. But he hasn't had any success, either. How? We left his potty at the Yarrington' house last night. Horrors! Luckily (I think) Spencer had stayed up late the night before, so he slept basically all morning. His nap diaper was dry, and then I think he probably peed in the shower later on in the day. We tried going on the big potty, but no luck. We picked up his potty around 3:30. No luck. I have been giving him a ton of juice since then, and still no luck. We've been sitting on the potty every 10 minutes since we got home, so it's got to happen some time, right? Oh well, at least I know he knows how to hold it, right?

Now the big question is, do I take him to picnic group tomorrow? (There are potties at the park we're going to.) I don't know if I'm brave enough...

Still Life

No, the title doesn't refer to the photo. I just wanted to show off the new bamboo fruit bowl I got at WestElm.com. (Be careful - it's a great site with lots of tempting things to buy. I've had to practice a lot of self-control!) I've been searching forever for a fruit bowl that lived up to my standards, and when I saw that this was 50% off, well, how could I resist? It matches the seats on my dining chairs really well. Plus, it's huge. At first I thought it might be too big, but once I put the cantaloupe in there I knew the bowl was staying. Hey, as far as I'm concerned, any bowl that can hold a melon and all my other fruit is awesome. I'm just not sure what I'm going to put in there during the winter when there's no fresh produce.

Unfortunately, the lack of fresh winter produce is far from my most pressing concern right now. I am right in the middle of potty training Spencer. And in that regard, it's still life as usual - no progress! We 'ran out' of 'daytime' diapers today; he knew it was coming and acted prepared. But no matter how often we sit on the potty and no matter how many cups of whatever he has drunk, I can't get him to go on the potty! Seven pairs of pants (and as many carpet clean-ups) later, and still no luck. The thing is, I KNOW he can do it. (And I think he does, too!) Whenever he does have his accidents it's whenever I'm not in the room and always in a random corner or somewhere where he doesn't normally go. Kinda like how puppies won't pee where they live; same with Spencer. Ugh. And worse is that at first he didn't like the wet pants, but now they don't seem to bother him. *sigh*

Vacation - First Class Bad Luck Getting Home

We had a bit of first class bad luck when it came to getting home. Since our flight left at 6am we decide to spend the night at the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport. We had fun that evening eating breakfast for dinner at Cracker Barrel (which is always a good idea) and swimming in the hotel's pool.

We had to get up super early to return the rental car and get through security and stuff on time. So I called the front desk for a wake up call and set the hotel's alarm clock. I thought two alarms would make us doubly sure to get up on time.

I was wrong.

The wake up call never came and the alarm clock didn't go off. We woke up 45 minutes before our flight left; needless to say, we missed the flight. I was pretty ticked off when I called down to the front desk to let them know what happened. But by the time we had packed and loaded the car (no time for showers - ick!), I had calmed down a bit and was civil to the front desk employees. I was quite firm in letting the manager know that I held the hotel entirely responsible for what happened and that they needed to find a way for us to get home. I think they were surprised that I wasn't more rude or upset - they even thanked me several times for being so nice! My feeling is, as long as they were willing to make amends, no need to get mad and rude. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

This worked - they ended up buying us three new tickets home. (Since we had gotten our tickets through Priceline we couldn't transfer flights or get any sort of refund. ) Not only that, but since all of the flights that day were overbooked, we got to fly first class. Way nice. ($1900 nice!)

We had to wait three hours at the airport for our flight, but the boys were pretty well behaved considering how long they had been up and how long we had to wait. Josh threw up on Lance when he choked on a Cheerio, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. We flew into Detroit and had an hour and a half layover. We entertained Spencer there with riding the tram and the moving walkways and eating M&Ms. Josh was entertained with bottles, Cheerios, and watching the planes out the windows. Both boys had leaky diapers, but luckily I had packed extra clothes. (A bit of good luck!)


I have to admit that I felt a bit out of place in first class; we hadn't showered that morning and had two young children. Not exactly looking our best! But it was nice to be a little pampered - a glass for our sodas (instead of plastic) and as many fancy snacks as we wanted. Oh la la. Not worth all the extra money, unless someone else is paying for it! Oh, and on the flight from Detroit to Indie there was an extra seat next to me, so Josh got his own seat. Now that's first class!

Vacation - Our Last Evening

On the last evening in Carolina Beach I wanted to walk on the beach and take some pictures. I didn't get to take nearly as many as I wanted because little boys and the beach do not mix. (Not a big surprise.) But I did get a few good ones.

Spencer said "cheese" a little too well.

Joshie is always more interested in anything else other than the camera.A nice lady on the beach offered to take this picture for us. Too bad the sun was right in our eyes!

It kills me that Spencer looks so dopey in this picture because I think Josh looks so cute!

This shot kinda makes up for it, but I don't think it's nearly as cute as the last one could have been.

Here's our friends the Cadiz's: Amy, Kennedy, Steve, and Stevie. (I can't believe we never got a picture of all of us together. We were either too busy or too lazy!) We met them when we were very first married and living in Salt Lake City. It had been three years since we had seen them, and it was so fun to hang out with them again! Steve is joining the FBI next month, so they don't even know where they'll be by next summer. Hopefully somewhere fun so we can come visit. :) We already miss you guys!

Vacation - Activities

After our naps we would do some sort of activity to entertain the kids for the afternoon. (We didn't want to go back to the beach - too much effort with clean up!)

One afternoon we went to the NC Fort Fisher Aquarium. Not the biggest aquarium ever, but still fun to see. They had pretty good exhibits on local marine life, although the outside ponds were swarming with mosquitoes. Ouch!
Spencer especially liked the crocodiles, the elevator, running away, taking our picture, and peeking out of the giant crab.
We discovered something interesting about Josh at the aquarium - he is terrified of fish. No joke. I was holding him and took him closer to the tank so he could see the fish better. You wouldn't believe the screaming and wailing and grabbing! He went crazy with fear!

Apparently, when we see fish like thishe sees fish like this!

Not only was he afraid of the fish in the tanks, but he was also scared of the fake fish on display everywhere. The aquarium was a regular house of horrors! Being the good parents that we are, we got a little of it on video. (I wish I had held him closer to the tank for a bit longer so you could get the full effect. But I was feeling a bit guilty at the time!)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I eventually became adept at moving is head so that he wouldn't see too many fish as we walked through. Good thing he doesn't know that we swam in the ocean with fish! Weird child.

On another day we went to the fishing pier. We walked to the end and back and watched people fish. Spencer was sure we needed to fish, too, and was disappointed that we didn't. But he enjoyed seeing the fish other people caught. I enjoyed watching the pelicans beg and wait for people to share their fish.

Afterward we went out for ice cream. I let Spencer have a chocolate ice cream cone. Big mistake. BIG mistake. It'll be vanilla for him for at least the next five years!

We also went on walks around the little town. Kennedy always made sure to hold hands with Spencer. It was really cute!

Vacation - The Beach

Once Lance was all better our vacation started to take on a basic, if laid back, routine. We'd get up in the morning, eat breakfast and lay around a bit. (Or in my case, read.) The babies would take their morning naps and the older kids would play. We'd eventually get around to getting our bathing suits on, slathering on the sunscreen, and walking the whole 50 yards to the beach. (What a life!)

Spencer would play in the sand and 'swim' in the water. (Swim meaning being held by either Lance or I and wave surfing.) By the end of the trip Spencer was brave enough to play in the surf, getting knocked down and dragged a bit by the waves - he loved it! He also loved to dig huge holes and then try to fill them up half a bucket full at a time.

Josh would also 'play' in the sand. (Play meaning eating the sand and getting it into every crevice of his body!) He tolerated the water pretty well, but didn't like the taste. His little round face would wrinkle up every time we got hit by a wave, but he never fussed about it. One day I decided to give him a bit of a juice box after we got out of the water, just to get the salty taste out of his mouth. He grabbed it and sucked it all down in just a few minutes! This was especially surprising because it was the first time he'd ever tried using a straw! That boy takes to eating anything like a fish to water.

Oh yeah - Josh would also nap on the beach. Can you find him in the picture? (He always sleeps with a blanket on his head.)
After several hours on the beach we would head back to the condo for lunch. And after lunch was everyone's favorite part of the day - nap time! Everyone, adults included, would get to nap at least for an hour or two. (Unless they were at a good part in their excellent beach read...:) Nice.

Vacation - Poor Lance (poor me!)

Poor Lance was sick with the flu that first night and all of that first day. Being the empathetic and compassionate wife that I am, I sat by his bedside all day and nursed his brow. Right. I ran to the local CVS, picked up some Pepto, gave it to Lance, and left for a morning at the beach with Spencer. (I left Josh to take a nap at the condo.)

While I wasn't exactly excited to wear a bathing suit, I didn't dread it as much this year, either. I found this cute suit at JCPennys. I like it because of the board shorts - I don't feel quite so exposed. I look just like this picture, too. Only with short, dark hair, a smaller bust, and the body of a woman who's had two babies in the past three and a half years. But other than that, just the same! :)

Spencer LOVED the beach. He couldn't get enough of the sand and the water. I got quite the workout by holding him while we went wave surfing. Although the water in the Atlantic is quite warm, Spencer could only handle being in it for about 20 minutes before he started shivering and his lips turned blue. (You can actually see his ribs in some of the pictures!)

I wasn't surprised by Spencer's love of the beach. I was surprised by his tantrums, though. Spencer has always been a really good traveler, and he had been so good the day we traveled. But he fell apart at least once a day for the rest of the trip, with the biggest tantrum on that first day. Man, nothing makes you feel like a lousy parent more than a tantrum from your child in front of people you don't really know. Here's why I think he just couldn't handle life:

1. His routine and schedule were totally messed up
2. He wasn't sleeping in his own bed
3. There were lots of other kids that he had to share and play nicely with
4. He's three and a half and that's his job.

So that afternoon wasn't much fun. Lance slept all day and I dealt with grouchy boys. Not much of a vacation.

Luckily, by that evening Lance started playing Dance Dance Revolution again, so I knew he was better. That gave me a chance to start my summer beach read: Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. Yes, it's the Oprah book club book, and I'm not usually one to jump on that bandwagon. (I'm not in love with Toni Morrison like she is.) But it was on sale and had lots of good reviews. It was GREAT! I could hardly put it down to go to the beach! Very well written and a very unusual and compelling story. Yes, there is some sex in it, but nothing too graphic. I highly recommend it.