Just a random Wednesday

Linking up with Megan today for a bunch of randomness!

• You want to know what is embarrassing?  Having to go to the doctor and have your ear cleaned out because it is impacted with wax.  Yesterday morning when I was using a q-tip {I know} all of the sudden my ear just sealed up and I could not hear a thing.  I took B to school and then went and worked out hoping it would get better.  No.  It was driving me so crazy that I couldn't even wait for Lonnie to get home with some utensils to clean it out himself.  Off to the doctor I went.  My doctor cleaned it out and it felt amazing.  It was totally disgusting and I wanted to die when I saw what he got out of there but I was so happy even though I was embarrassed.  And then all of the sudden I was not happy....I was insane dizzy.  Like almost fell off of the table dizzy.  Apparently shooting water that is too cold in your ear causes vertigo.  So I sat there for about 10 minutes trying to get back to normal.  I can't tell you how weird it was to be so so dizzy but not nauseated.  I have vowed to never use a q-tip again.  Oh how I will miss them though...
• B is going to school 2 days a week now {which is why I am able to blog in the middle of the day...yay!}.  She loves it and I love that she loves it.  She woke up this morning chanting her teachers names.  I think she probably dreamed about them and school all night...ha!  
• When I picked her up yesterday this is what she did all the way home.  Non-stop.  I think they talked about letters at school?!

• I have no idea what to do with myself when she is gone.  I am literally able to do things around the house that used to take me hours when she was here with me.  For example, I paid bills this morning in less than 30 minutes.  That used to be an all day process full of interruptions and toddler "helping".  I am so much more productive and when she does get home I am able to focus on her instead of trying to do other things during my time with her.  
• Ok.  I am saying it.  She is potty trained.  The last time she wore a pull up was on our trip to Pittsburgh.  She did well the whole trip but did have a wet pull up a few times.  But she wasn't scared to go potty in the airport, on the airplane or at Bridget's house.  She even showed off her potty skills to Emily!  It was pretty cute.  I was nervous about her regressing on the trip and once we got home but she hasn't.  So I ditched the pull ups and we are panties full time now.  Even at school and she has stayed dry.  I do not miss cloth diaper laundry!!! {fingers crossed this doesn't jinx us!}
• I finally decided on a theme for B's 2nd birthday party.  I am excited about it after not being able to get that way for a while.  I think I am going to do a Sunday afternoon party that is a little more low key.  The Saturday of her birthday weekend the Razorbac.ks play at home so I wanted everyone to be able to go to the game {3 hours away}.  And if I do Sunday afternoon then I don't have to have as much food so maybe it will be less stressful?
• I still haven't gotten my refund for our last IVF.  I was supposed to get a check in the mail soon after I spoke with the nurse about it.  Well, that was 6 weeks ago.  To say we are frustrated would be an understatement.  They have had plenty of time.  Lonnie is calling today and demanding answers.  He is doing it and not me because 1) I would probably cry and 2) they will be way more scared of him (I hate confrontation and am terrible at it anyway).  
• Y'ALL.  This is the most important bullet in this post.  NFL football starts tomorrow!!!  OMG.  You know I love me some football and I may be a *little* obsessed with fantasy football.  I am in 2 leagues this year.  The one with all of my girlfriends that we do every year and then another one with some people Lonnie works with.  I used to work with them too so I know most of them.  There is only one other girl in that league so I named my team A Woman Among Boys.  HAHA!  I am seriously so excited and I will try not to talk about it on every post.  Unless you want!  Who do you root for?  Do you hate football?  Lonnie hates it but I think it is mainly because I love it so much.  He is more of a baseball guy.  :)

Happy day before the NFL season starts!  

22 months!

On August 13th (her first day of "school") our little (not little) Blakely turned 22 months!  

This was the month of the language boom.  The day she hit 22 months she started stringing 2, 3 and 4 words together regularly.  As I am writing this she said to me, "Mommy tie shoe please".  It blows me away how fast this happened.  One day she was just saying single words and now that.  Awesome.  She also repeats everything we say.  I can tell she is able to make more sounds now that she could a month ago.  She never could really say the "c" sound, like in cat.  Now she can.  And we all know how well she says football ;)

This was also the month of the potty training.  I've said this before but I want to mention it in this monthly post as well.  She is doing very well.  I don't know when you say your child is "potty trained" but she is well on her way.  I can't remember the last time she had an accident at home.  I don't ask her when we are at the house, I just wait for her to tell me.  When she and I go out during the day she wears panties and does well.  She FINALLY went in a public restroom and that has helped tremendously.  Now we don't spend a ton of time in the car on the Min.nie potty.  Score one for Mommy.  As much as I hate public restrooms it is so much easier to take her to the bathroom when we are out for lunch than to stand outside of my car in the 100 degree weather for 20 minutes while she holds it and plays games on my phone.  I am hoping this week at MDO she will start using their potty.  Last week her teacher told me she seemed scared of it but finally went when she saw another girl go.  When I take her in this week I am going to go with her and maybe that will make her not scared of it!  Also, I am sure after writing this paragraph I am going to eat my words and she will totally regress.  Let's hope not.  

This is what happens when you potty train your cloth diaper wearing toddler.  No pants fit!  Gangsta ;)

A super fun thing she started doing this month is hiding.  And she is really good at it.  When I had my little day to myself and she was with Lonnie all day, he called me and told me that he lost her for like 5 minutes!  She was hiding in the laundry basket.  I lost her one day and found her in the princess castle {picture below} being as quiet as a mouse and completely still.  It is really amazing.  Now we have to hide from daddy when he gets home everyday.  It is cute but I am sure I am going to hate this talent of hers.  

She calls herself Boppy.  She thinks she is saying Blakely but Boppy it is.  I don't want to ever forget that because it is so cute and I know it won't last long.  

She is a total bottomless pit this month.  I guess she is having a major growth spurt but she wants to eat all the time.  She doesn't really eat breakfast well but starting at about 10 am she wants to eat constantly.  Some favorites are pasta with sauce to dip, carrot sticks, and apple slices with peanut butter.  

{always eating}

She has loved Mic.key Mouse Clu.bhouse for a while.  But now, all of the sudden, she is super attached to her Min.nie.  She has to go everywhere with us.  Even if Blakely says she doesn't I always bring her because if she asks fo her when we are out and we don't have her?  Oh dear....

We have had some super fun pool days this month.  I think most weekends were spent at the pool.  Of course I don't have many pictures because I spend my time chasing her around and making sure she doesn't dive head first into the water.  But here is one from last weekend.  We spent most of the day there with Jenni and GranDi.  Blakely loooooves her Jenni {it sounds like Gigi and that just might stick!}.  

She is liking the water more and more each time we go.  This specific time she jumped into the water {with me catching her} at least 50 times.  She will kick when I tell her and will actually let me takes my hands off of her and she will swim around a little bit.  She doesn't quite have the arm paddle down yet but we are working on it.  I really wish I could get her in to swim lessons but all the places here want them to be 2.  Maybe someone has fall lessons or something.  I am going to look into that.  


Happy 22 months sweet girl!  We love you so much!  

randomness during nap time...

• B had a great first day of MDO yesterday.  Until about 3:00.  Her teacher said she noticed that Blakely was just looking different than she had all day and so she went and held her and felt like she was hot.  They took her to the office and took her temp.  104.  Great.  They were calling me to come pick her up right as I was walking in the door.  They brought her to me and my girl looked so pitiful.  We are heading to the doctor in about an hour.  
• Potty training is going well.  She is in panties most of the time now.  I do put her in a pull up for MDO and for gymnastics class on Friday.  Mostly because I think she is having so much fun she forgets to tell me/her teacher that she needs to go.  For the most part, the pull up stays dry.  We spend a lot of time like the picture below.  She will wait to pee just so she can play in the back seat.  Oh, and it is about 100 degrees with the humidity of a sauna.  So this is always fun.  No...

 {isn't she going to love this picture later?}

• Lonnie has had an amazingly rough stretch at work.  2 terrible weeks and a call weekend in between.  When his work is crazy, everything is crazy.  He is off for a week starting this weekend and it can not get here fast enough!  Although he may sleep the whole time...
• Do you use the Timehop App?  You can sync it with your FB or Insta.gram and it will tell you what you posted one, two or three years ago!  I love it but must it make me tear up every day?  This is what it showed me the other day.  WHO IS THAT BABY???

• B is obsessed with this pink hat.  If she doesn't know where it is then she roams around whining "Boppy pink hat" until I find it for her.  {Boppy=Blakely}

• I can't seem to get motivated to plan B's 2nd birthday party.  What is wrong with me?  I have an idea of what I am going to do and I have made a few purchases but no planning beyond that.  Get with it mama!
• One more random thing.  This little family of mine is taking a weekend trip (4 days) pretty soon.  Any guesses where we are going?!?  {It is in the US}  Happy Wednesday!  

wordless wednesday

I know.  I just killed you with cuteness.  This is how B was struttin' around yesterday afternoon.  Boy short panties and mini high heels.  Lonnie nearly fainted when he saw this picture.  TEENAGER.  

Also, she has on panties AND a shirt.  Mommy win!  

I have no idea what I am doing.

If you follow me on Inst.agram (email me if you would like to!) then you have seen that we are potty training.  Yikes.  

Let me start this by saying that I was forced into it.  I was not ready and showed no signs of becoming ready anytime soon.  Blakely had other plans for me.  She forced my hand and here we are.  Naked 99% of the time and peeing like a big girl.  I am still not ready for this but HERE WE ARE!  

Very tiny, small and quick recap on how we got here.  In bullets...

• she has had her little potty beside "my potty" for months.  
• she though it was a toy for months.  
• she started wanting to sit on it and pretend to pee like mommy about a month ago.  Because watching "mom-meeee peeeeeeee" is so fun!
• I started putting her on the potty before and after bath about a month ago.  And, voila!  She peed.  
• Things got real about 2 weeks ago when she brought her potty into the living room and peed in it.  I could not ignore her any longer.  She was over diapers.  

Small recap about this mama.  

• I have not read any books or articles on how to potty train.  This is weird for me.  Normally I would have devoured all information available in order to do this correctly. Therefore I feel very lost.  I thought I had a while before I needed to know how to do this.  I was wrong.  
• I have no idea what I am doing.  
• send reinforcements.  

Since it was looking like the child was going to potty train herself if I didn't step it up, I decided to go out and buy her some panties and some P.ull up.s.  

I knew she would do better with this whole thing if she was naked.  She has always loved nakey time and since she was about a year old she didn't like having accidents.  She would point to the pee spot on the floor and yell UH OH! UH OH! for 30 minutes after I had cleaned up the spot.  When she started showing signs of being ready to potty train a month or two ago I knew the best way for her to do it was to be naked.  

So that is what we have done.  This child has been naked 99% of the time for the past 2 weeks.  She says Pu.ll u.ps are diapers, so they are a no go, and the panties are being used as blankets for her dolls.  Nakey it is.  

This was on day one.  She has since boycotted shirts as well...

I am sure you don't want to read the detailed day to day about her bathroom habits but I will tell you these important things in bullets.  

• naked toddlers are the cutest thing ever.  Besides nakey babies of course.  
• she will probably become a nudist now.  I get her dressed.  She takes her clothes off.  Repeat.  40,231 times a day.  Starting to really miss those cloth diapers with snaps.  
• the i.p.ad was invented for potty training. 

• she has been rewarded for peeing or pooping in the potty with stamps.  My genius husband came up with this idea. 
• because of the stamps she looks like a homeless child that hasn't had a bath in weeks.  See, stamping on paper is not NEAR as fun as stamping all over one's body.  
• I have a collection of approximately 75 stamps.  Completely useless.  
• She thinks Lonnie's trainer Alan pees and poops in the potty REALLY REALLY good.  He is covered in tattoos and every time he comes over she can't stop staring at them and says "poop" and "peeeeee".   
• I have about 500 pictures of her on the potty and/or running around like a naked crazy toddler/monkey.  

• Lonnie doesn't think it is that cute when I text him pictures of her potty "results".  Too bad dad.  
• we may never leave the house again.  I have gone stir crazy.  Obvi.

life...

• I am trying not to stress about any of this and just play it cool.  Just follow her lead and all that.  Lonnie's exact words were, "Oh my God, chill out!".  Obviously I don't know how to "play it cool".  
• eventually we will venture out of the house with just panties and no diaper (in like a year).  As soon as I can get her to keep the panties on (in like a year).  

So that is life up in here.  Send vodka and toilet paper.