I discovered yet another hidden talent

*Yes this is another potty post.* My life revolves around the potty these days, what can I say?

Today, here's what I was able to do successfully:

1. Navigate Archivers (scrapbook store) with Madeleine in the stroller and holding Ava's hand.
2. Find the bathroom with one second notice.
3. Push the stroller into the small bathroom with Ava and me all crammed in there.
4. Pull down Ava's pants and pull up and sit her on the potty.
5. Wipe her and flush.
6. Pull her pants back up and wash her hands.
7. Get her a mento (that's her treat for going potty.)

All while talking to my friend Lori on the phone about her VISIT this weekend! Yay! Am I good at multi tasking or what? I was pretty proud of myself (although probably pretty annoying to the other customers :)

In other potty news, because you're all SO interested, Madeleine said "Poo poo Mama" this morning. As if you don't think that's exciting enough for a 14 month old to say, she told me that right before she went!! I can't even get Ava to do that. Could this be an early potty trainer? Let's hope so.

One last story from the trip

So, Ken and I went out for a drive the first day we were there. We forgot to bring Madeleine's blanket, which she calls her "silky." She actually has several silkies and she sleeps with them and likes to have one when we're in the car. Anyway, we were on the sixth floor and when we got down to the car in the parking garage and started driving, she started saying "Silky. Silky." Over and over. We felt really bad so instead of going back up for it (D and P were taking a nap), we decided to try to find a Walmart or something and just buy her a new one. Of course this is the one place in the country where there's no Walmart to be found. It was really sad, she just kept saying "Silky." So finally we found a Big Lots. We went in and of course in the tiny baby section there are no silkies. (There were however, several kids running completely wild and no parents to be found.) We were walking around the store when we came to the clearance aisle. There was a silky looking thing with a handwritten tag that said "Bottom only, $4.00." It was all wrapped up so we couldn't tell what it was, but as soon as Madeleine saw it she got a big smile on her face. She grabbed it, put it up to her face and started sucking her thumb. So we bought it. When we got out to the car and unwrapped it, it was a TWIN fitted sheet. She didn't care that the thing was huge, she just held it and went straight to sleep for an hour in the car. Apparently she's not particular about her silkies.


Don't tell her, but that thing went in the trash can at the airport. There was no room in our suitcase!

Our first date

Yes, Ken and I finally went on our first date alone since Madeleine was born - almost 15 months! Maybe we shouldn't wait another 15 months before we go on the next one! Anyway, my Mom very generously came over to watch the kiddo and Ken and I went to Barnes and Nobles for some actual reading time (as opposed to reading one sentence, then handing her another book or piece of food or picking up one of those things off the floor after it's been THROWN.) And then we went to see Indiana Jones and the Golden Corral, I mean Crystal Skull. :) It was actually pretty good.
In other news, Grace has 5 and a half more days of school, and I only have this week and next week of working full time. I do work quite a few days in June, but have almost the whole month of July off. Then I'm working 3 full weeks in August and in September I will start my part time schedule - all day Monday and half a day Friday. Won't that be great?

Two more pictures from the beach:
My little crab.

Oh and if you think the wallpaper in the naked baby picture was bad in the last post, check out this couch!
And one from Memorial day - she did have a patriotic outfit!

Back from the beach!

And we had a great time. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Madeleine was perfect the entire time. I cannot believe how good she was. We had to wake her up really really early on Friday morning and she didn't even mind. She slept perfectly well for naps in the car, the plane, her stroller and in her pack and play, and even slept 12 hours both nights! We had a great time with our friends and Madeleine loved them. I think everyone knows "Baby Beluga" by heart now that we sang it so many times over the weekend. That kid is obsessed with that song. And the book "Good Night Gorilla."
Of course, there WERE some things that went wrong. For example, we missed our first flight, which was supposed to be at 6:10. The good thing is that we made it on a 7am flight and still made it to Florida before noon. We learned without any shadow of a doubt that an Evenflo convertible carseat does NOT fit in a bulkhead row of a plane. The rest of the 150 passengers learned it as well when we singlehandedly caused the plane to leave at least 10 minutes late. After 20 minutes of finagling with that thing, including scrapes and bruises on our forearms, a seatbelt extender, everyone on the plane staring at us, and flight attendants standing around looking helpless, the entire row behind us offered to switch us seats. Voila! It's MUCH easier to get the carseat in when it's forward facing AND you can lift the armrests - who knew?

The rest of the trip went extremely well. Madeleine LOVED the ocean, as you can tell from this picture. Whenever the waves hit her legs, she yelled "MORE!" When we tried to leave, she crawled back toward the ocean. She didn't even mind the cold water.

She loved the sand too, and was more than content to play in it for a long period of time. Lucky for us, we had SPF 60 sunscreen - no rays were getting through that stuff! She didn't mind getting sticky, dirty, or sandy one bit.
But she did enjoy her baths in the sink very much! We also had a whirlpool tub in our room and she took a bath in there with me once. She LOVED it and cried when Ken took her out.
Her hair was extra curly down there with all the humidity - it was very cute!!

This was her church dress - we went to mass on Saturday night. Right after the opening prayer and everyone said "Amen," Madeleine waited until everyone sat down and was quiet, and said, "AMEN!" really loudly! That was the first time I've heard her say that. Everyone around us laughed, so she kept repeating it until we had to take her back to the cry room. Of course she was a perfect, quiet angel back there.

We had some GREAT food, including lobster and steak and great salad the first night, and sushi and teriyaki chicken the second night. We went out for ice cream and Madeleine was perfectly content to have her "pop" (lollipop) for dessert that night. We got home last night and she went right to bed. She was really SO good the whole time, just went with the flow. I just love that baby :)

D and P, we had a great time with you - thank you so much for being so patient and working around us and our schedule, for the great dinner, for helping us with everything, and for reading and singing to Madeleine. She really loves you guys - she has said your names several times today and has been looking for you!

I guess I really didn't need to worry so much about travelling. It was a great trip but I am very glad to be home again!

She may throw food but at least she's polite!

Our screened porch

It was so nice outside today that we decided to eat on the porch!! It's is a GREAT porch, very pleasant out there, really one of my favorite rooms in the house. The only problem is the HUMONGOUS hot tub. It's really a nice one, and it came with the house, but we have never even put water in it. Maybe this winter, you never know. We cleaned and vacuumed out there so Madeleine got to crawl around out there for the first time. (There were lots of spiders and bugs out there before we got them all.) I have a feeling we'll be out there a lot this summer.

Just a few more days

And we're heading to the beach!! Madeleine played in Ava and Grace's sandbox on Friday afternoon for an hour and LOVED it. It was her first sand experience. She didn't even try to eat it, just played. I think she'll love the beach. We bought her a little life vest type thing yesterday, just for a little extra safety in the ocean. Now this week we'll be working on getting her to wear a hat.

What should I pack? And any travel tips with a busy toddler who likes to "alk" (walk) all the time? We are flying standby, but hopefully she will get her own seat with her carseat, so I think that will be good. She does great in her carseat. If we don't get her a seat... well I don't even want to think about that! Our flight leaves around 7am on Friday, so we'll be getting her up early.

Let's see.... for her - bathing suit, cover up and towel, swim diapers, sunhat, sunglasses (she's actually pretty good at wearing those), sunscreen (spf 60 - that should do it!) life vest, snacks, drinks, toys and books, clothes, jammies, baby shampoo, diapers, wipes, silky blanket, etc . I figure when we get there we can go to the grocery store and get some food for her and a little pail and shovel or some other beach toys.

Ugh, trying to pack lightly with a baby seems impossible! Luckily they have cribs where we're staying so I won't be bringing the pack n play this time.

I'm really excited, and a little nervous too. She has NO fear. I hope our friends still want to hang out with us after this trip!! I hope she gets enough sleep and is not super cranky, and I hope we all have a great time!

Seperation Anxiety

Um, not her. ME. I have a big problem.

Tonight my mom came over at 7:30 so I could go hear a talk at church - one of my favorite priests was telling his conversion story. She goes to bed at 7:30 but she got to stay up a little later to play with Grandma. She was thrilled about that too - she LOVES her Grandma. So tonight was the first time EVER that anyone else besides me has put her to bed. I mean ever. Ken has never even put her to bed. We have a routine, we stick to it, and it works.

I totally know she's fine - actually better than fine - with my mom. She's having more fun with her than she would if I brought her to the talk, she's going to bed pretty much on time, and getting the most excellent care. But I sat at the meeting fidgeting, checking my watch, just MISSING her so much! I knew she was asleep and I wouldn't get to see her if I was home anyway, but I just wanted to be home. I have never left her for more than 3 hours in her entire life - and only with my mom.

We have this conference coming up in July and I am going to have to leave her ALL DAY on Saturday- all day! How am I possibly going to do it? Oh my goodness, is this normal? The conference is Friday night, all day Saturday and half the day Sunday. I am thinking I'm going to take her on Sunday because it's only half a day, and I'm not sure about Friday yet.

I know she will be fine, have lots of fun, get lots of Grandma lovin' and attention. Will I be able to relax and have a good time? I know I wouldn't if she was there - she's high maintenence in those situations. I better start praying for peace of mind. I am SO blessed that I have had a job where I could bring her, because I think if I had to leave her to go to work I'd have a nervous breakdown or something. Sorry if this is all TMI for everyone :)

Up to my Elbows

That's what I think I should name this blog sometimes.

I know I'm a first time mom. I know I want a lot of kids. I know I'll have to deal with a lot of poop. But seriously, I need like a weeks break of not dealing with anyone's poop!!

Ava is potty training, so who knows where the poop will end up, sometimes in the potty chair and I have to dump it out and wash out the chair, gagging all the while. Sometimes in her diaper or God forbid her pull-up. It gets on my hands. It gets on my carpet. It gets on the changing table. I spend a good portion of my day cleaning up someone's poop, wiping someone's butt, or coaxing someone to go on the potty. Not to mention our neighbor's DOG who poops every day in our yard. No, they don't clean it up, and yes, I have to watch very carefully for it when I mow.

I usually don't have TOO bad an attitude about this, but lately it's been a lot to deal with for some reason. It could have to do with an incident that happened a few days ago. I was pulling off Ava's pull up and a little piece fell out onto the carpet in my dining room. OK, I can deal with that. But when she takes her bare foot and grinds it into the carpet, I have had just about enough. Another thing is that lately, Madeleine has taken a certain affinity to corn. I won't say anything more detailed, but I really don't see the point of her eating that particular vegetable.

Here's what I have to remember:

"I'm changing culture, one diaper at a time." Kimberly Hahn

and when asked what she was going to do when she couldn't serve with her sisters in the same capacity anymore, Mother Teresa replied,

"Well, I'm good at cleaning toilets."

Steps!!

She's taking about 5 steps on her own, and can walk across the room pushing her little toy. She LOVES to walk, whenever I am holding her now she says "Alk! Alk!" and wants to get down. She wants to hold my hands and walk EVERYWHERE, and now she wants to walk back and forth from me to the couch and back. Unfortunately she seems to have inherited my and my mom's coordination.... I see some trips to the ER in our future :)

Happy Mother's Day!

For Mother's day my sister in law and I got Madeleine and Eli's picture taken together for my mom. Sorry about this poor quality, but it's a picture of a picture! Mom loved it, and said it was the cutest thing she has ever seen :) We actually got her a kind of collage of three different pictures which were all really cute!

Ken got me a great gift. On a piece of paper he printed out a list of jobs he will do for me - including cleaning my bathroom, changing diapers, doing dishes, filling up my gas tank, and hours of baby-free duty where I can do whatever I want! He did pretty well, I'd say! Thanks Ken!

This morning at Mass, Madeleine was SO good. I just held her and her silky blanket the whole time and she was calm and quiet. The music was beautiful too. At the end I got to stand up and get blessed with all the other mothers. I'm so grateful to be a mother, it's the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. When I was standing up there, I was reminded of all the Mother's days when I didn't get to stand up. I wanted to be a mother so much, but I couldn't be one yet. I had to wait. Please if you are reading this, say a quick prayer for all the women who long to be mothers but for whatever reason, it hasn't happened yet. And know that you are all in my prayers every day.

Happy Mother's day to you all, and may God bless you!

Spoiled. By Grandma.

Have I mentioned

That Madeleine has been sleeping through the night for about a month now? And when I say "through the night" I mean 7:30pm to 7:30am. I actually feel like a real person again! Oh it's been great.

We went to visit my Grandma this morning. Of course she was thrilled with Madeleine. She kept saying, "look at those eyes, they are fantastic!" And then "Look at those dimples!" She even held her hands and let her walk around. One thing Grandma always does is pull Madeleine's thumb out of her mouth over and over. She is NOT thrilled with that, and we tell Grandma she doesn't like it, but you know she doesn't remember. I think she is doing well, when we got there she was down in the dining room listening to some gospel music with several other people.

We also had to go to the Anderson court house to get a copy of Grandma and Grandpa's marriage license. You know things were a lot different on these licenses 68 years ago. For example, they ask what "color" you are. Then they ask if the person is an imbecile, idiotic or feeble minded. Well. You think people are going to be honest on THAT question? Speaking of idiotic, the whole place was filled with "O" supporters. You know who I'm talking about. They were wearing shirts and buttons and generally being loudmouths. I think he's in Indiana right now. I say good riddance when he leaves.

This post is SO random so I am going to sign off and go see who was voted off American Idol :)

There's a first time for everything

I'm sure you're not going to believe this, but tonight was the first time I've ever cooked chicken!!! EVER. See, I got married right after college (and didn't cook much in college - except processed, frozen food) and Ken's allergic to chicken. So last week, we went to Mom and Dad's house for dinner when Ken was out of town, and they cooked chicken. That was the first time Madeleine had tried it since she was about 9 months old. She loved and and had no reaction! I can't tell you how thrilled I am that she is not allergic to chicken. So here is what I cooked:

Mandarin Chicken (milk free, of course)

Put one and a half cups of rice in a dish (I used brown and wild rice). Then put chicken breasts (can do 4 but I only did 2) on top, pour 2 cups of orange juice and 1 cup of chicken broth on top. Add salt and pepper and any other spices you want. Then add a can of mandarin oranges and throw the whole thing in the oven at 375 degrees for an hour. At the very end I added some frozen peas.

It was DELICIOUS! And received rave reviews from the kid. I am SO excited to be able to try out some chicken dishes. Anyone have any favorites?

Freecycling

Have you heard of this? I went on www.freecycle.org and signed up.

Say you have something laying around that you don't need. Like some nursing pads you bought over a year ago that have been sitting, unopened, in your bathroom. You just post an offer on freecycle, a bunch of people who want them email you, and you give them away to someone who needs them. That was my first freecycling experience yesterday. We met at Barnes and Nobles so I didn't have to tell them where I lived.

So I plan on freecycling a bunch of stuff around here, and hopefully if something comes up that I want, like a sandbox or some outdoor toys, for example, I can snag them.

Funny face

This is the face Madeleine's been making lately - a silly, squinty eyed smile. We find it hilariously cute, just like everything else she does :)

It's been great the past few months to see her personality really start to develop. I think she's going to be a stubborn little thing. She knows what she wants and she lets you know. She loves to make us laugh. Unfortunately she thinks "No" is the funniest word she's ever heard and keeps right on doing whatever it is we tell her NOT to do. Like throwing food on the floor. At EVERY single meal. She does it and then looks at us with those huge blue eyes like "What are YOU going to do about it?" Very unfortunately for us, we have a hard time keeping a straight face when she does this. She is definitely testing her limits.

She is a very social young lady. Today we went to Ava's music class and she crawled around saying "Hi" or "Hello" to everyone. She went right up to the kids and tried to take their instruments. She is everyone's favorite baby at the grocery store and everyone fights over who gets to check us out. We frequently hear "that is the cutest baby we've ever seen." Of course we totally agree! She says at least 50 - 75 words very well, and learns more every day. She LOVES Grace and Ava (Gace and AAAhva). She gets SO excited when Grace gets in the car. She makes her laugh every day. She always tries to get her attention. "Gace. GAACE. GACE!" And when Grace finally says "What?" She says, "Hi."

Even though she's asserting her independance, she is usually a very patient kid. She's happy to sit in her stroller and carseat. She hardly EVER cries (except, for example, when her MOM tries to take her away from her GRANDMA - heaven forbid!) She's always up for an adventure. I think she is going to be a very fun, laid back, stubborn, sweet, silly girl. And I love every bit of her.

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