Potty training, Round 2

I told myself that on the first warm day after finals, I would start potty-training Deedo. And today was that day.

(Though for the record, I had no idea how hot it actually was, only that it was over 85 degrees in our house and since I came up with this awesome plan not to turn on the a/c at all this summer, I decided that we would just deal with the heat.)

Let me tell you, there is nothing like sweating, keeping a squirmy toddler on a potty, playing legos, and nursing, all at the same time. One of those moments you just have to chuckle.

"Here you go, drink some more juice."

"No honey, don't put the lego in the baby's ear."

Is that sweat or milk running down my arm?

"You are doing great, buddy, just keep sitting there."

"Sure, I can rebuild your lego car. Again."

Whoops, the baby just pooped.

"Hold on a sec, I gotta get the baby situated."

"Ok, here's that lego."

"Careful, buddy, you knocked over my water."

I hope that's just water. Please not the potty.

"And legos do not belong IN the potty."

Yet somehow, it was a wonderful day. Sharks did a great job encouraging his little bro every time he peed in the potty. (Seems like just yesterday we were potty training him!) We did tons of high fives and jelly beans. Deeds is excited about his Elmo "U's" (that is what we call underwear in this house. I know. Bizarro.)

Mostly I just set the timer every 20 minutes, then Deeds would sit on the potty for 5. And pretty much every time he would do a little something. (I also let him go crazy with the chocolate milk.) Of course there were a few accidents. Par for the course.

Tomorrow we will continue. Hopefully by the end of the week we will no longer have two in diapers!! And won't that be a joyous day for all.

The Three Amigos

...or the Three Stooges...the Three Musketeers...depends on the day, I guess.

For the record, it is tough to get a picture where everyone is happy. Or where everyone's face is at least showing. Sometimes you just gotta give in to the harmonicas and sippy cups.

And it continues...

Just got back from a wonderful morning date with my husband - coffee shop, organic/local cafe for lunch, browsing through stores we would never attempt with the babes.

We really had a great time - time with just the two of is rare these days and it is great to know that we still have fun together. ;) Plus, it was a blessing after the worst night we have had with the kids in a long while.

We walked in the door to complete silence and thought my mom was putting the kids down for their naps.

Then my mom yells, "Chet? Erin? Help!!" Apparently, my mom and the kids had been locked inside the boys bedroom since we left three hours earlier. My poor mother. She even tried to take out the hinges but the door still wouldn't open.

(The inside handle fell off awhile ago - shame on me for not fixing it - and it is impossible to open from the inside. Unfortunately, we failed to mention this before we left, and Sharks slammed the door two minutes after we walked out of the house.)

Anyway, all are safely out now. We are thankful that all of them were stuck in the room together - just imagine if the baby had been downstairs or something!

God is good.

Lost: brain

Tonight at our Kingdom Group, we were helping clean up when I noticed Deedo was missing. I got kind of panicky because I was afraid he had slipped out the front door unnoticed since I couldn't see him anywhere in the house.

That is when my friend said, "Erin, aren't you holding him in your arms?"

And whaddya know, I sure was.

Can't a woman get some PEEce around here?

A few years ago, the ladies at our old church got together to talk about parenting. We all got to write down anonymous questions for a panel of moms to answer. One of the questions was, "Will I ever get to go to the bathroom in peace?" or something like that.

Sharks was probably just a few months old at the time, so I am sure I laughed to myself and thought, really? Can't you just shut the door? Or tell the kids to go somewhere else? Or hold it til your husband comes home?

Just another of those things I should NOT have judged before I experienced it. (Along with "I will not wear sweatpants every day.")

So now I'm the one wondering, "Will I ever pee in peace again?"

And I have the privelege of being asked questions like,

"Mommy, how do you do that all by yourself?!" - says Sharks, very impressed that I can wipe my own bum.

Kitchen Cosmetics

For some reason, I have recently gotten interested in natural body products. Though "products" makes it sound more intense than it is. To be honest, my bathroom now looks like a mini kitchen cabinet. Most of my body products are also stuff you can eat. (Not that you'd always want to - castor oil, anyone?)

Awhile ago, I wrote this post about washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar. That was my first foray into the weird world of kitchen cosmetics.

I also started using coconut oil instead of lotion, and I absolutely love it! My skin is so smooth now. And I made and use this deodorant, which works great, though it took a little getting used to. I added a dab of lavendar essential oil to it since that's my favorite scent.

Then after reading my friend Brite's post about her face washing method, I figured it was time to give some natural skin care methods a try.

I have had acne-prone skin since I was in sixth grade, and I have tried pretty much every thing to clear my skin, mostly all horrible chemicals and antibiotics. Of course that all stopped when I started having kids, but my skin was still bad, bad, bad.

Nothing I've tried has produced long term results, so I decided to try the Oil Cleansing Method. Why not go crazy and rub oil all over my face? I won't bother explaining it - only to say that I pretty much exactly follow the method on the link. I did have to adjust my oil mixture because it was a bit too drying at first.

My face washing routine is now the Oil Cleansing Method every other day, followed by a swipe of tea tree oil. On the days I don't cleanse with oil, I use the tea tree and eucalyptus soap from Oil and Spice (thanks, Brite!) followed by a swipe of tea tree oil. If my skin feels dry, I rub on a dab of coconut oil.

After about a month of use, I am happy to say that I have never had better skin. Today Chet even asked if I had makeup on because my skin looked nice - and I wasn't wearing any makeup at all! If you have ever had troublesome skin, you know how awesome that moment was for me ;)