It's all about the food

Meg must be enjoying a growth spurt. After a 6 month food strike, her interest in mealtimes has resumed. She is currently facinated with anything she can dip. Chicken nuggets in hot mustard sauce, apples and carrots in peanut butter, hot dogs in ketchup- she loves it. All I have to do is tell her to dip and she eats it up. I just need more dip recipes- any ideas?

As heard in Meglet's house

"Mom, I have nackers?"

"Nackers? Meg, what's a nacker?"

"Nackers, Mama. Want goldfish nackers"

Apparently, snack + crackers = nackers. Who new? She creates words, just like her daddy. He's created whoppers like slickery (slick + slippery) volumptuous (lumpy + voluptous) and others. Ah, more proof that this kid is 100% her Daddy.

The Princess has arrived!

The family was at Target today and they had a ton of summer formal dresses on clearance. I always buy those type of dresses on clearance, since they are always so expensive and never on sale when you actually need them. So, Michael picked out a beautiful white one and later on in the evening as I was carrying it up the staits, she decided to strip off the dress she was wearing and wanted to try on her new dress. Now granted, it's big on her right now, a 4T. But come Easter, it should fit like a glove. What makes me laugh even more is her current toy obsession. In June, I bought her this Little Mermaid doll that is about the size of your index finger that had a couple of plastic dresses that she (ahem, we) could take on and off. She loved them so much that we have since added Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Jasmine from the movie Alladin. So putting new dresses on her dolls has become the highlight of the summer. (In fact, we are bribing her with the Cinderella doll if she uses the potty!) So, back to the story. Once her dress was on, she wanted to dance. So we danced all over the upstairs until she decided she wanted her sparkle shoes on. So we put sparkle shoes on, went downstairs and found her purple magic wand which she then used to tap the dog on the nose. After that, she demanded to be called Cinderella until Cinderella grew so tired that she had to be put to bed with the promise of more dress up tomorrow. And they all lived happily ever after!

Check out her wand!

Potty Training Failure #2

We've decided to throw in the towel again. I just get the feeling she's not ready yet. For three full days, we rushed her to the potty the second she started peeing in her panties. Once she got there, she would finish peeing in the potty, which was good and she was excited about it. But there was never any indication from her that she had to go. She never said anything, never made any body movements that would indicate she had to go, she would just let it rip. Michael and I have no idea why. We're hoping it's just maturity on her part and that maybe in a few months we can try again and that she'll be closer to being ready. I feel like a failure, but I don't see the purpose behind beating my head against a wall when she doesn't seem physically able to make the connection yet. Am I giving up too easily?

Day 2 of Potty Training

First, I must tell you, Day 1 of potty training was sheer hell. Bad enough that I pulled out the Mike's hard lemonade (the one I drink on a very rare occasion- a six pack usually lasts me 6 months!) as soon as she went to bed. I swear, she peed on almost every horizontal surface in my house! Yesterday, I would have paid anyone any amount of money for them to potty train her for me! Today has been much better. We have bought her a Beauty and the Beast Barbie doll and a set of Cinderella mini dolls with dresses as her big reward for staying dry and I think it's helping. They are sitting up on our mantle and every time she asks for them, we tell her that she has to be dry all day. We just keep putting her on the potty and when she starts to pee, we put her on the potty so she knows where she's supposed to do it. We're carrying around the Elmo potty right now and I've never been so thankful for bleach, because this whole thing is pretty gross. So far today, she's made it to the potty twice and has had two accidents, which is far better than yesterday, when we literally got about 3 drops in the potty. So she's learning. Please keep us in your prayers!

New beginnings for Mama

I'm all signed up to start my Master's classes on August 1st. I'm going through Western Govenor's- on online school in Utah that specializes in online Master's degrees. I know that I need my Master's, but I knew that I couldn't spend in a regular classroom. I couldn't imagine going to work all day and then spending 3 or more nights a week in classroom to get my master's. I would miss Meg far, far too much. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my school work done after Meaghan goes to bed. I really hope that this will be the best of two worlds- it'll just require quite a bit of juggling on my part. My stepmom, who watches Meg 3 days per week, is insisting on starting dinner at my house on the days she's watching Meaghan. She's such a sweetheart and she's so willing to help us out. I'm going to try to get stuff frozen for the school year, like right before Meaghan was born. I'll probably make meatballs, maybe a lasagna or two. Anything that I can throw in the crock pot the night before and cook all day while we're at work.
It's funny- Meaghan has gotten so much easier over time- she's easier to reason with, to talk to and much more fun. Now, as she gotten easier, I've found a way to make life complicated again!

Blueberry picking

We've gone blueberry picking every summer since Meglet was just a tiny little thing, 2 months old. We went back to the same place we took her our first year and the memories came soaring back. I remember carrying her in the Snugli, picking blueberries and singing to her. Now, she's walking, talking and singing "You are my Sunshine", "Elmo's World" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" right along with me! She was not too interested in picking, but she was really good and stayed right in between the bushes Michael and I were picking. Here are our pics!

Happy 4th of July!

As you can see, we had a great 4th of July. We spent the day at home, relaxing and cleaning the house. Then we went to my Dad's house, right on the lake, to watch fireworks. Meg had a great time with her friend Jake, although they were holding hands and kissing. I guess it's time for that talk already! She had such a great time that she absolutely exhaused herself and tried to lay down on the driveway and fall asleep!
Hope your 4th was great too!

Holding hands with her best buddy, Jake

No... it wasn't us!

Maddie, Meg's bff and Jake's little sis

What's the 4th without sweet treats?

Watching the fireworks with Daddy

Exhausted and actually trying to fall asleep on the driveway!

Potty training failure- on the part of Mommy & Daddy

Mommy & Daddy are not good at potty training. Meglet tried her hardest, but Michael and I are no good at this! I know it's just a matter of practice and time, but we've been having a tough time. We know that she is so smart and I know that we are expecting too much too soon. So, starting Wednesday, we are going to try again and hopefully, this time, we'll do it! We have made no plans, we're not going to leave the house and hopefully, we'll get this kid potty trained! Send good wishes our way!