Day 182 / 365 -Adventures in Potty Training

My child had horrible colic for 7 and a half months of his life, he screamed for about 16 hours a day... that being said, potty training seems to be my biggest challenge yet. I hate it, I feel lost, and it's so dang time consuming I would rather just give it up.  I like to be completely honest about motherhood, I am not the kind of mother that feels competition at all. If it wasn't for preschool "looming" over our heads he would probably still be only in diapers. So we push on...

This weekend was amazing. He was completely dry all weekend other than one accident. Even with store outings and frozen yogurt, he was such a trooper about public toilets. This pretty much sums up his attire for the weekend. Staying with the completely honest I would like to share a story with you. On Friday I took him to Shirley's house and told her we were continuing to work on it. Up until this moment potty training consisted of me putting him on the toilet and we would sit and read, sing, play for 45 minutes until something would FINALLY come out. In my mind he could not make the connection between what makes it come out. Well Ms. Shirley put him on the potty and he says, "Shirley watch this" (he also pointed down there) and sure enough he peed! {insert me retracing all my steps, and coming to the harsh reality that I was taken for a ride} When I got him home, I put him on the potty and said, "Ryder potty like you did at Shirley's house" ...

I think you know what happened next ... yep... he peed. Only two and much smarter than I give that kid credit for.

Day 181 / 365 - It's a Boy's Life

Does everyone plan their weekend around huge mounds of dirt that have moved into their neighborhood? This was the question I asked myself today as we sat and played at Mount Dirtmore. I am doubting it... but when we tell him where we are going and he jumps up and down and yells out, "I so e'sited" and claps his hands together it kind of makes it all worth it.

Day 180 / 365 - Balance

Enjoying some creek love like always and feeling the need to just write. (In fact I am already throwing around a 365 idea for next year with a focus on writing) So bear with my rambling. More and more I am met with the question, "when are you having another one?" or this one, "Ryder really needs a brother or sister". The guilt trip one always gets me thinking a little, "How can someone who is so close to their siblings not be having lots of them for Ryder". I can't tell you what will happen with our small family unit. One day... yes we will probably add another. But for now we are balanced. We are a unit, we are perfect. Life is so incredibly easy and I am so very blessed. I love being able to stop on a whim and go jump in a random creek, or crawl up a dirt mound, or take a trip back home and pretty much know what to expect. Do I feel bad, like I am denying him of something? ... of course I do. As a parent don't we feel that way about a lot of things? I wish I could give my child the world at his fingertips, but we give him love and lots of it. We give him spontaneity, so much attention , and outdoor adventures. He is happy and that is what I think truly matters. So for now I will bask in the blessing of balance that god has given me. Tomorrow might be completely different, but today it is working and that is where I will place my focus.

Day 179 / 365 - Mount Dirtmore

I always love when we stop to do something and the sun is setting beautifully and I do not have my camera. Thankful for iPhones and the fact that I always seem to have one with me! This shot is of Mount Dirtmore, it is in our neighborhood (where they are building) and every time we pass it, Ryder always yells out, "Mom, I climb that sandbox mountain". Tonight on our way back from dinner, dad yells out... "Ok Ryder, let's do this". Needless to say, I think Ryder felt like he was a thousand feet up, he loved it... but did not want to stand on his own. So fun to have a little boy and notice things like a massive dirt mound.

Day 178 / 365 - Learning to sort

We have been practicing colors and shapes this summer and this little man just grabbed his buttons today and starting sorting them by color. I am not one to go on to everyone about how smart or talented my child is, but I can assure you we celebrate his successes together. Good job buddy!

Day 176 / 365 - One with the trees.

We enjoyed some park time with Aunt Amy, we got lunch and played outside. He loved it. Although I have to admit he was happier walking around in between all of the trees than playing on the equipment... I wonder where he gets it from. {insert sarcasm}

Day 175 / 365 - Balloon Glow

It is becoming a tradition that we are home for the annual Cedar Rapids Balloon Glow. It is seriously so much fun and we love getting to run around on all the beautiful property of the Brucemore mansion. I wish Lafayette would do something fun like this each year. It is such a great way to get people together. Ryder was amazed this year at the big balloons and a little thrown back by the loud noise and the fire that was needed to make them inflate. We were on a no nap kind of day, and I know moms out there know those are not always the best day to hang out around hundreds of people and loud noises. He was a little overwhelmed, and a little more like a lot cranky. But I loved it, such a fun time with family and we may have had wet butts when the night was over but we left with new memories and that is what life is about.    

Day 174 / 365 - Family Fun

Playing with cousins is pretty darn fun. Tonight we went over to his cousins house. They ran the length of the yard, they splashed in some water, they chased each other up and down the yard. My summers absolutely fly by because I spend so much time at home, but this is exactly why I do it. Being away it is pretty cool to have your child wake up and ask, "mom I see Ben and 'T'olin today" and I can respond by saying, "yes, we can go over there". Pretty magical stuff.

Day 173 / 365 - Bridal Shower Fun

Today was bridal shower day. It was such a great day. It was a complete torrential downpour all day, but we made the most of it and just kept in mind why we were there. Fireside Winery was AWESOME! Highly recommend hosing an event there, it was beautiful and they went above and beyond to make sure the rain didn't ruin her day. Love getting a chance to watch my sisters get showered with love. Thankful for all the people that came out despite the bad storms to shower her she was worth it. Can not wait until July 11th! It's going to be an amazing day. #timetofocusontheMOHspeech #ugh

Day 172 / 365 - Shower Prep

My sister and I decided to try our hand in cake making. I have to admit it, I am pretty impressed with how we did. Love this cake, and am so excited to shower my sister with love tomorrow.

Day 171 / 365 - Bachelorette Fun

A lot of preparation and a lot of time has gone into this weekend and I am so thankful to do it. Tonight is the bachelorette party and we are all so excited to celebrate with Amy. I am finding one detail when doing parties for one of these beautiful women, it is never enough in my book. I wish I could give them giant catered events with massive floral arrangements. I love these girls so much and they deserve the best, but the best thing about them.... no matter what the event it is always enough.

Day 170 / 365 - Hide and Seek

We are currently into playing hide and seek with mom. Only there is a slight catch to it, if he finds a spot that he likes to hide in... he will hide there every.single.time. Needless to say it does not create a very long "searching" phase of the game. Also, it is pretty easy to listen for the giggles coming from where he is hiding.

Day 169 /365 - Water & Rocks

The more and more I get to know my child and try to get him to branch out and do new things, the more and more I realize I may only be doing that for my own personal enjoyment. Water & rocks is all it takes to make this guy think he is in a little boy's heaven. If he can grab them and throw them, then he is completely satisfied.

Day 168 / 365 - Bridal Festivities

Looking forward to a very fun very busy weekend ahead. As my beautiful sister's wedding draws near I am trying to complete last minute projects for her shower and bachelorette party. If you are one of my blog followers I am sure are well aware that I enjoy the little things, well here is the challenge so does my sister. She loves details and notices those small bits of "extras". So you pair me up with doing her festivities and I am a tad stressed about perfection. I love her so much and am so excited for her and hope that these parties show her how much she is loved by everyone. She deserves a weekend of friends, love, and laughter and I hope that I can give her all she has hoped it will be! **cheers bestie**

Day 167 / 365 - Sink Baby

I really can't tell you what I love more, the fact that he likes to keep it classy even while taking a bath or the fact that he still fits in the sink for baths. <3 Either way they are both pretty perfect.

Day 166 / 365 - US Open

This weekend involved a lot of US Open watching, which also spiraled to lots of "crushing" inside our home. So in honor of celebrating father's day we decided to head to the golf course and see if this little dude could take it to the greens. Well he loved it. To be honest, he was actually pretty darn good. We may not have been able to get him to use his "real" clubs but he rocked it with the plastic ones. He even enjoyed chipping from the sand and much to my surprise he did not once stop to build a castle. He doesn't quite get the idea that when close to the hole making your ball airborne may not be the best thing to do. But, eh... who cares right?  He would crush it high and then yell, "whoaaaa I crushed that one so high". Then he would point his club to the air.  

Day 165 / 365 - Art Love

I was painting some wood crates for my classroom today and this little nugget was just watching me in awe. He was asking me why I was not painting on paper. I explained that sometimes we need to paint other things. Yes I am sure I will come home to painted walls now. So I decided to find something he could  paint, after a long lecture of asking mom when he wants to paint something I let him free. He loved it and by the end of it, his little pull wagon looked much better than it did when he started. ;))

Day 164 / 365 - Watermelon

 I was slicing up a watermelon when I looked over and he had grabbed a whole quarter of it and was chowing down. Following the first picture he goes, "mmmmmmmm" and licked his lips. He then continued to carry around the quarter of watermelon until it was finished. He is such a ham.

Day 163 / 365 - Sneaking Snacks

He was asking for a snack and I told him we were getting ready to eat dinner, when I came back in the room I found this... there was a sleeve of crackers in his lap. #timetousethenextshelf

Day 162 / 365 - "ccchhhhk... a"

I am adding a nautical theme to my already beach themed classroom. I was painting  a few of these lighthouses I ordered and was taking a couple pictures of them to show my sister. The next thing I knew he had grabbed two of my old cameras and I heard a "ccchhhhk... a" sound. {this is his very strange camera sound}. Then I heard a "ohhhh I like that one" as he clicked away. I can only hope this love of cameras will continue.

Day 161 / 365 - Headed Home

We decided to make the whole trip in one. I was a little nervous about 6 hours in the car with him by myself, but he was honestly perfect. He slept about half the trip {I think family wore him out} and watched movies the other half of the trip. He was laughing and trying to make me laugh. Thankful for an easy going child who seems to just role with whatever we are doing. It is nice knowing we can get through things together with no problem.

Day 160 / 365 - Watching Papaw

Papaw was out working on the yard and this little one was just staring and watching him. I honestly could not get him away from the window. He loves his papaw and in fact doesn't seem to want to leave. Thankful for this time that he can spend with family.

Day 159 / 365 - Sweet Boys

"Hey Ben, I love sitting with you and watching movies together."
... he gives me a sweet smile.
"Me too Aunt Jess"

Man I love these kids. It is such a bittersweet thing being home and spending time with them. You are one cool dude Ben and it is amazing to me how much you have grown. I loved the smile I got when I walked in the door on Friday and you came running up to me and gave me a big hug. Please don't stop doing that.

Day 158 / 365 - Wedding Preparations

As mentioned in a previous post, I am blessed with four beautiful sisters. They are a part of my everything in this world. This beautiful sister is Amy. People laugh and I can tell many do not believe me when I say we usually talk 3-5 times everyday. We talk in the morning, we talk after work, we talk around dinner time while we are both making our meals, and we talk before bed. The phone rings and Ryder says, "Amy calling". Amy is getting married in almost one month to the day. She is going to make a beautiful bride and an amazing wife. She is caring, motivated, strong, and independent. Her fiance brings out the best in her and their relationship is real and that's why I love it. I love you Amy, and can't wait to see you rocking that amazing gown on July 11th. I am proud to be your kick ass MOH. :))

Day 157 / 365 / Cousins

There is really no better feeling than watching Ryder play and hang-out with family. I am sure I hold a little bit different of an outlook than those who are around family all the time. There is something different about the way he grabs grandma's hand or jumps on grandpa's back or trusts his Aunts to take him somewhere. He knows this is special and these people love him deeply. I seem to get more and more sad when I come home because I realize all that he is missing out on by being away. I am blessed with a wonderful family who makes us their top priority when we are in town and that feels amazing. I can't help but this about what it would be like to be surrounded by this kind of love on a daily basis. Here's to hoping we can one day get home and enjoy this full-time.

Day 156 / 365 - Niabi Zoo

Went to the Niabi Zoo today with grandma, Kati, and mom. So much fun getting to share that with them. We had an awesome day riding the train, looking at animals, scaring birds, and eating snow cones.  I love watching Ryder and Kati together. Kati is so good with him and even though she is so much older than him she always seems to understand what he needs. She is so patient with him. 

Day 155 / 365 - Headed Home

Home is a funny word. What defines it? A roof? A place where you sleep at night? A place where you grew up? I know home to this little dude is Indiana, it is all he has ever known and quite frankly that baffles me a bit. Home to me is family. It is where your heart resides, it is where the people who know you the best out of anyone in the whole world live and love you even though you do not talk each and everyday. I love my Indiana home and my little 3 person family. I love that we are each others everything and we have to overcome life together on our own because there is no one there to help us pick up the slack. But I will always call where our families reside home. That is my home, they are my home. We are excited to spend time with family. We have been talking about cousin fun all week and he claps when I mention the word "Ben". Looking forward to a few days at home. 

Day 154 / 365 - All Pruned Up

First day home with mom and this kid is all pruned up. We started with a one ring tiny pool from when he was a baby, and ended with a much cooler "tunnel" pool as he called it by the end of the day. This is no exaggeration when I say he spent about 6 hours in the pool today. He loved it, I heard him reenacting the entire Finding Nemo movie with his Nemo figurines in the water. Every time I asked him if he wanted to get out, he responded with, "no mom, not 'et".

Day - 153 / 365 - Simply because you are cute.

Day 152 / 365 - Taking it all in

I told him we were going to have to go because the bugs were starting to get bad. He looked at me and gave me his favorite overused line right now, "mom... just wait a minute". I guess he needs to wrap his mind around his busy week ahead. ;))