Sending Season's Greetings

One of my most favorite holiday traditions is to send and receive Christmas cards from friends and family. This morning I took the time between trips to the potty to address and stuff each one, while little man "ate like monkey".

Every year I choose one or a few of the most recent and cutest pictures of our little trio, design a card, order them, and then get to experience my least favorite holiday tradition- I'm told by Jon that I spent too much. 

Bah, humbug!!

 I cannot wait to send them on their merry little way, for this year's card is my favorite yet! But we are keeping our mouths shut about their darling design and letting your mail box do all the talking....

Potty Training

Potty Training.

Those two words give the phrase "growing pains" an entirely new meaning...

However, instead of blogging about how difficult, frustrating and gross potty training a little boy can be- trust me, I have plenty of those types of stories- I'll just share how we have grown to get along with this inevitable process by having movie dates, art projects, treasure hunts, and making Christmas lists. 

One night this week we red boxed Winnie the Pooh and popped not only some popcorn, but a squat on the good ol' Lightning McQueen potty seat. I have to say, we all enjoyed the movie a little more than we expected. Owen was in an obvious Tiger trance.

He will probably hate me for sharing this, but apparently Jonathan was a little more difficult to potty train than your average toddler. The solution? A treasure chest! So, since our little guy has fallen in his Daddy's stubborn, potty training footsteps, we decided to give this little idea a try. Every time he pees on the potty he gets to pick a little treat from his very own treasure chest. Plus, who doesn't like a good art project?! Hobby Lobby supplied the treasure chest, paint, and brushes. What else do you need besides some mad painting skills?!

A lot of concentration...

...and a T-Rex assistant, of course!

                            

Oh yea, and a BUNCH of wipes! Scratch that...a BATH!!

Last week Owen figured-

What better time is there other than potty time to peruse the Black Friday ads and make his Christmas list?!

These humiliating pictures remind me of a time I happened to capture on my phone (sorry for the crappy quality) a little while back...

Please believe me when I say that the ONLY time I would allow my child to play half naked in 40 degree weather is during potty training when clothing casualties are high and easy access is a must. Don't judge.

ARRRGG! Give me the treasure, Matey!

Who Says??

It has certainly been a minute since I last blogged. I'm guessing that starting a new job and house hunting has had something to do with my absence. Anyways, who says I can't wait practically two months in between blog postings?! HA!

Recently, Owen has been applying this very same question to his many summer adventures...

Who says you can't sport a swim diaper wedgie around the yard and still be cute??

 That's right, who cares! Slide on, man! Just slide on.

Learning and exploring is crucial at this age. I hear my brain is like a sponge. So, who says I can not thoroughly investigate my curiosities...

'

And who says mommy's sandals are just for girls?? There is just enough breathing room!

Please tell me who says that you can't play with your food?? No matter what age you are...

...especially if there is a sweet airplane spoon and chocolate pudding involved.

"This is your pilot speaking. We are currently cruising at 2 feet and ready to make an extremely messy landing..."

SPLAT! "We have made our decent onto the Jello pudding pad, prepare for evacuation..."

"Thank you for that yummy evacuation and for flying Toddler Air."

Daddy pulled a Betty Crocker moment and baked, iced and decorated some patriotic cupcakes for the Forth of July. Who says a boy can't show his love and support for his domestic father by diving right in?! YUMMY!

 Although my parents highly discourage me sharing my food with the dogs and even more so using the same fingers to feed both me AND the dog, who says the rules apply on holidays??

And if anyone questions my poor hygiene decision, at least I can say I gave the idea a quick second thought, cut the dog a "if you tell anyone I will pull your tail" kind of look, and then proceeded.

Of course my Gigi wouldn't care. Who says kissing your G'ma is for sissies??

And who says a kid can't use what is available to him to take care of business?? No disrespect intended, but it itched...OK??

See? Who says I don't love and admire this country I was born in? I will wave my flag with confidence and pride knowing I have amazing men and women fighting for my freedom and the right to say....who says??

 So I say, who cares that the Fourth of July was three weeks ago?? At least I am blogging about it in the same month ;)

Misadventures

With a title as such, you know that the trouble I promised Owen and I would get into while Daddy was away was a promise I stayed true to. The real trouble is, where do I even begin??

 Monday evening we sought the company of Mimi and Pawpaw and a good meal. Dinner for Owen consisted of a few bites of real food and 80% ice cream sandwich. You can only imagine the mess, or what could also be described as a boy's version of "dress up". Clean up was every toddler's summer evening dream...

...none other than his new favorite outdoor "toy", the water hose!

 He teased and harassed the dogs...

...along with the monkey toy thing...

...and obviously thought it was absolutely hysterical!

He brushed up on his chivalry skills and assisted Mimi with watering the plants and hydrating Sally the dog.

Man, all of this dinner clean up really makes a toddler parched!

YUMM!!

 Sally had the bright idea to just drink right from the hose...and what do toddlers do?? They learn by mimicking others, or in this case, a dog (that's my boy!). Although we all know that Sally is loved by many, she is a dog. With that being said, in reality her idea was not so bright. In fact, it was a horrible idea and brings us to where this said trouble began to unfold...

...and there you have it. No, this is not one of my newly developed Photoshop skills. This is an actual snap shot of my son practically drowning in a water hose. We all know who will be given the honor of Mother of the Year!

Whoa...

"Here, all done!"

And that was our Monday night!

Once upon a Tuesday, Owen claimed he had to pee-pee on his froggy potty. However, mommy has learned that this was and continues to only be a ploy to play with his new potty n' sounds book...

...check email, and browse the alphabet and animal web on his laptop. With no "presents" being left or M&M's being rewarded, it is hard not to get discouraged at times about the fact that potty training is not going as well as I had hoped. I do have my sister-in-law to thank for my positive outlook on a crappy...or should I say not so "crappy" :)...round of training. She called my attention to a very good point - You don't see 20 year old, grown men walking around in diapers. So, I know that he will be potty trained at some point!

We put a new spin on our afternoon goldfish snack and used his newly adopted Cabbage Patch doll's stroller as a lazy boy lounger. Then Mommy took him for the ride of his life around the living room while giving her best rendition of race car noises. Again, fun and seemingly awesome idea at the time...

From what I hear, the best part about Nascar is the wrecks, right?! Nothing a dose of ibuprofen, a grape Popsicle, an ice pack, and a little TLC won't fix. Disclaimer: the elbow boo-boo is not the result of our dangerous high speed stroller race. However, full body padding and a helmet may be in our near future for even the most common every day activities.

Many of you may have already read on Facebook about our Wednesday night misadventures. It all started on the Chick-fil-a play ground. Owen and a little girl hit it off and became fast "friends". They quickly felt comfortable enough to flash one another their belly buttons, proceed to kiss each other on the lips and wrap up the play date by stroking each other's faces. I was a little embarrassed to say the least and couldn't help but wonder what Truett Cathy would think of my son's behavior.
But wait! The evening is only beginning. Right before bedtime, I told Owen to go to the bathroom and start brushing his teeth. Once I made my way to the bathroom he had managed to find the toothbrush that we use to clean our bathroom's grout. Yes, he was brushing.his.teeth....awesome.

As you can tell, we have managed to keep ourselves busy, our minds off of missing Daddy, and have done a good job at keeping things interesting. Is this how the "two" stage is going to be??

If so, I wouldn't change it for the world. These are the memories that I will look back on, laugh hysterically  over and cherish the most.