Motherhood....and the unexpected.

Potty training Jack has been a challenge. What part of raising Jack has not been???) He is definitely the one who keeps me on my toes and entertained. Potty training him has been no exception. Let me start by saying that the reason I started training him so early is because since the day he became aware of the business going on down below....he would inform me that he had a dirty diaper by reaching back into it and actually showing me a handful. He would say, "OH GOSH!!! I POOP!" And then try to hand me proof. After a few months of this potty training began. Pull ups were first. When he would have a dirty pull up, he would attempt to take it off and clean up himself. But he would always become overwhelmed by the mess and stop half way and scream for me. I can distinguish between Jack's "I am hurt" cry, his "sleepy" cry, "she took my toy" cry, and his "Oh My Gosh, I am covered in poop" cry. So pull ups did not work, they were overpriced diapers that he was happy to go potty in. I moved to big boy race car undies. He still tried to clean up his own messes and usually ended up with a bigger mess, but at least contained in the bathroom now. A few days ago I heard a distressed scream from the bathroom and Jack had some how moved the lid off of the tank of the toilet. It had fallen in the toilet and wedged itself in perfectly to flood the bathroom. It took me and Laiken 30 min and every towel in the entire apartment to absorb the water. Jack loved it. Potty training Jack has led to frequent nudity in public, including at a public pool. At the pool, he walked to the end of the diving board, pulled his trunks to his ankles and peed off the diving board into the pool. It looked like a rainbow! He was so proud, and I was too embarrassed for words. Luckily we weren't kicked out. Yesterday Laiken and Jack had a tea party in the living room with all of their dishes. When the party was over and dishes were scattered across the floor, Jack walked up to a tiny metal pan, pulled down his pants, and peed into it. Of course we were not alone, my neighbor and her 7 year old daughter were over here too. Potty training has been an interesting journey so far and I am sure it is not over yet, but maybe we are through the worst of it?? Something is telling me we are not.

2010 Stratford Peach Festival

These are some of the bows I made to sell at the Peach Festival.

The 2010 Stratford Peach Festival was my first festival selling my hair bows. It was a great success. I sold about half of what I made, and met a lot of new people. I was told by several people that my bows were amazing and my prices reasonable. Trey was off work that day and spent the whole day with me. It was very encouraging for him to invest his time too and to be so supportive. (that or he was hanging aroung to find the Peach Habinero BBQ Sandwiches he kept hearing people talk about) Either way it was nice to spend the day with him. The kids found a small patch of dirt next to my tables and played in the dirt ALL day long. I went through an entire pack of baby wipes (I hate dirt!) But I know they had a blast. It was a great day for all of us.

Laiken's 4th Birthday

Wow, I seriously cannot believe my baby girl is 4 yrs old. I guess time really does fly by as you get older. It seems like just yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital. Now she is about to start preschool. I truly feel blessed to have such a remarkable little girl for my daughter. She lights up my life. She is truly blessed as well, to have the best grandparents and aunt in the world. Maw Maw, Paw Paw, and Aunt Leigh drove all the way out to Oklahoma to spend her birthday with her. She was so happy to see them. The party was wonderful. We decorated cupcakes, had face painting, broke open a pinata, and had delicious purple Tinkerbell cake. It was a treat to watch Laiken open presents. She was so excited and so thankful for each one. She is an amazing kid.

We had a great visit with Mom, Dad, and Leigh. Unfortunately the 4th of July fireworks rained out across the state and we were all disappointed with that. Sunday we drove to the Arbuckle Mountains. We saw Turner Falls and a few national state parks. Mom got her magnet from OK and Dad got his shot glass (they collect them from every state they visit). Well, now they can check Oklahoma off that list because I am not sure they will be back to visit. On the way home, Daddy told Mom, "Besides Trey, Lacy, and the kids...Oklahoma just does not have much to offer me." Dont worry Daddy, I feel the exact same way. I am glad this is a short job, I am ready for the next one.

She is older than she looks...

Laiken will be turning 4 years old on July 6th. She is old enough to begin attending a preschool. I have started talking to her about school to see if she is ready to start. She has always been with me since she was born. Aside from the two nights she stayed with Aunt Lisa when Jack was born, the one night she spent with MawMaw, a few times hanging out with Gran Gran, and the two times she stayed at Delainey's house all day to play, she has spent all of her time with me and Jack. I love my kids and I spend all of my time with them. I rarely go anywhere my kids cannot go, so why not take them with me. Jack is happy this way. He gets upset when I leave and is so excited when I return. My little man still needs me. Laiken, on the other hand, loves when I am not there. It makes her feel grown up and independent. She is in love with the idea of going to school. She has been talking about it nonstop since I mentioned it to her. She talks about the friends she will make, the things they will do at school, and mostly she talks about me and Jack not being there at school with her. I just smile and nod my head. I am glad she is ready because I am not. Yesterday she told me that she will ride the bus to school. That is where I drew the line. No. She is too young to ride a school bus. She was mad and told me that she will run out to the bus fast and it will take her to school. Ha! We'll see. Now that we have talked so much about her going to school, I am getting a little excited. I can't wait to take her school shopping for supplies, new clothes, and a monogrammed backpack. I just cannot imagine what me and Jack will do all day without our Laiken.

Happy Father's Day!

I bought Trey a grill cover with the Ole Miss logo on it. To sum up our Father's Day Weekend... Sat: Trey's present did not come in the mail on time, maybe today it will? He bought a 2008 Dodge Durango for me. We took the kids to pizza hut and to a water park. Trey went to the dirt track races with friends from work. Sun: The kids made Father's day cards for Trey. We all went to the carwash and watched Trey wash the new truck. Trey polished the wheels and grill with chrome cleaner. Trey grilled ribs and sausage, and he made pasta salad. The kids played outside with the neighbor's little girl most of the day. It was the best Father's Day I have ever had! (I mean the best one Trey has ever had!)

Welcome to Oklahoma!

It has been a big change moving from just outside of Baton Rouge, LA to Pauls Valley, OK. But it may prove to be a good change. We are adjusting to the differences of the big city back to a small town.

Updates on everyone...

Dylan is staying the summer with his mom (mostly his grandmothers), and seems to be having a great summer. We bought him the cell phone he has been begging to have for the past two years. He is 9 years old, and we definitely thought he was too young to have one. But having your child 10 hours away, in an environment you are not 100% comfortable with...can change your perspective on things. The only problem now is he seems to busy with his new "girlfriend" to text us very much anymore. Who knew that type of issue would start this early?? :)

Jack is officially potty trained (aside from the occasional accident). We no longer buy pull ups and he is even dry when he gets up from naps and bedtime. When we first moved here, every once in a while Jack would say, "I want to go home." It was so sad and broke my heart. I would just tell him, "We are home. We are here at home with Daddy." When running errands or going somewhere, on the way home Laiken would always ask, "Are we going home now?" Laiken is referring to our home here in OK, she just always needs to be informed where we are going and what we are doing, for her approval I guess. (She thinks she is in charge!) When she would ask me, "Are we going home now?" Jack would reply, "No, Nanny, No go home. Home is gone, gone!" Oh that was so sad to me. He did not understand the move. But he has adjusted and doesn't say either now. He seems to be fine. Maybe we should tell him we are moving again in 3 to 4 months.

Laiken is going to be 4 in July. She acts like she is going on 10. She is so smart. She figures it all out and has an opinion on everything. She was playing with the neighbor's little girl and kept telling her that she could play with her, but she could not be her friend. She has friends already. After playing with Penelope a few more times, she now tells her she can be her friend. Saturday I am taking Laiken to sign up for Ballet lessons. She is so excited. Any thing girly is ok with Laiken. I made the mistake of letting her watch "Toddlers and Tiaras" with me one afternoon. Her new obsession is "beauty patches" (beauty pageants). We are now on the hunt for a beauty pageant close to pauls valley. She will only be allowed to do the kind that appreciate natural beauty, nothing like the high glitz ones we saw on tv.

Trey was made a foreman on this job. He has been given 14 or so men to supervise. Trey is competitive and a perfectionist. Every day he writes a few guys up. He is even trying to run a few off the job, so he won't have to deal with him. Yesterday, he had a guy random drug tested because he suspected drug use on the job. Needless to say, the company loves him. Trey is definitely a "company man", but it really comes down to his expectations. He expects the best out of people. He is a perfectionist because it has to be done right every time and he expects that much from everyone around him.

Before moving to Pauls Valley, my hairbow business, Little Belles and Bows, was really starting to take off. I was finding new customers all the time, and keeping a small profit in my account. It was going great. I expected to have the same results here. The only problem is they hardly even wear bows here. I have only seen a few since moving here and none of the stores sell them. But after investigating and talking to a few store owners...I found that there is a market for them here. People do want them, there are just no real retail for them, yet. By the end of July, I hope to have my bows in two stores and to have my own store on http://www.littlebellesandbows.etsy.com/. This move could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Wish me luck!

Love/Hate Relationship

I love Laiken and Jack's love/hate relationship. They fight as much as they play. One minute I am complimenting them on how sweet they are to each other, and the next they are both screaming and clutching the same toy. On this past Wednesday I took Laiken over to play with Trey's cousin's daughter Delainey. I had to bribe Jack with a trip to Chik Fil A because he LOVES to play at her house too. There was a small struggle to get him to leave without a meltdown, but I reminded him where we were going and he was ok. The entire way to Chik Fil A he talked about "Nanny". (That is what he calls Laiken. I have no idea why. He has always called her that, and now that he is old enough to pronounce her name, he still says it. I will ask him to say "Laiken". He looks me square in the eyes and perfectly pronounces "Nanny". Ok, so I quit trying, and I call her that too sometimes.) He says "Where is Nanny?" I tell him she is at Delainey's house. He says "Go get her mommy. Go get Nanny." And he says, "Nanny wants to play." (meaning with us at Chick Fil A). He said the same things all the way there. He asked me a few times while we ate our chicken minis. Finally, it was time to play. As luck would have it, there were no other kids in the play area playing. He kept running in and out, in and out, until finally a few other kids came in and he was fine. When we got in the car to leave he said, "Mommy, go get Nanny." They are in constant competition with each other. They race to the door and to pick up or get something I asked the other one to get for me. They always have to be first and get the last bite or drink. Why can't they fight over useful things like who can eat the neatest, pick up toys the fastest, or even use the potty the most! (Jack is still potty training, but making tremendous progress!) But they still have moments, when I am not prying them apart, that melt my heart. They snuggle when they sleep by each other. Jack pulled two bananas out of the bag at the pool today and ran over to Laiken to share one with her. "Look Nanny, It's your banana! Want one?" Today at the pool they would count and jump in together. And at naptime, we all three slept in my bed. Laiken and Jack kissed each other before falling asleep. It drives me nuts when they are fighting, but it is priceless when they are sweet. I hope they grow up as best friends.