wordless wednesday

testing

testing something

wordless wednesday

cultured & refined...

Generally not two words I would use to describe myself, and in all honesty still wouldn't. But, last night I attended an event that I've always thought of as for the more cultured & refined of our society. I don't really know why, but that's how it's always been in my head.

Anyway, last night Rebecca & I went to a book reading/signing for one of our favorite authors, Jodi Picoult. She's touring right now promoting her newest book, Handle With Care. I have read several (I think 11) of her books and have loved almost every one of them. I'm not sure I could pick a favorite, but near the top would certainly be My Sister's Keeper. Her books aren't necessarily "easy" reads as the topics can be at times controversial, but her writing style is amazing and she definitely gets you thinking.

She read an excerpt from Handle With Care (which I think is going to be great!) and then took some questions from the audience. I found it facinating to hear her talk about her writing process and was very nearly inspired to start writing myself. :o) After the Q&A we waited our turn to get our books signed. Rebecca forgot to bring one with her so she purchased the new book and I thankfully brought my copy of My Sister's Keeper. I nearly didn't bring it because I thought she was only going to be signing her new book, but I thought I'd really regret it if I left it at home & it could've been signed.

I'm so glad that we made an effort to go to this event, it was so much fun! We're hoping to do more of these type things in the future. Watch out, I might get all high society on you! LOL

A few pictures:

R and I waiting for the reading to get started. (I'm sorry for the "up the nose" shot, but I'm apparently not very good at the hold out your arm & shoot thing!)


Jodi during the reading.


Signing away.


Me & my newly autographed book!


Keep an eye on Rebecca's blog as I'm sure she'll be posting about it soon too!

{almost} wordless wednesday

Would you believe me if I told you Jonathan made the mess on the desk? No? That's okay, I wouldn't believe me either.

wordless wednesday - blast from the past!

Okay, maybe not completely wordless... This was my 15 minutes of fame as a "calendar girl" in the Orange County, California Girl Scout Calendar for 1983. That's me in the middle... I think I was supposed to be a frog. LOL

snow mann 2009

The very rare occasion of winter weather came our way this weekend! When we left church the snow was coming down in huge snowflakes and it lasted all day. I'd say we wound up with 3-4 inches at our house. It was so beautiful, and I wanted to make sure to get some pictures of Jonathan playing in it. We didn't stay out too long as he has a bit of a cough but I couldn't let the opportunity pass us by. Though the snow was pretty hard and therefore difficult for him to pick up, he did manage to get this big piece. Doesn't he look too cute in his winter gear?





So far, so good on the potty training front. Yesterday went really well. He spent the vast majority of the day nekkid (as I like to call it) and after one incident of peeing in his bedroom floor, actually peed on the potty twice & pooped once! We danced, jumped & clapped and he of course got his M&M's. He also got to use his "big boy soap" which he was thrilled about. Today went okay too. He did have one accident in his big boy underwear, but he hadn't peed nearly all day except in his diaper while he napped. I could tell it was about to happen, but couldn't do anything about it fast enough. Overall I'm pleased with how things are going so far. We're only on day two so I know we still have a long road ahead of us, but we'll make it. ;o)

The boy seems to be sick again. He started coughing a bit on Sunday & it's just getting worse. He had quite a coughing fit this morning while eating his applesauce. I was actually worried that he was going to throw up from it. Last evening he had a temperature of 101.5 and after his dose of Motrin fell asleep at like 8:15 which is early for him. Sadly he was up a few times in the night & we wound up just bringing him into our bed at around 5:00 am. None of us slept well after that; he just tossed & turned. At about 7:00 when Chris got up for work Jonathan decided he was ready to be awake too. He stayed in our bed & watched cartoons while mommy caught a few more Zzzz's. He's been rubbed down with Vick's tonight & so far I haven't heard him cough. Hopefully he sleeps better tonight... we would all benefit from it.

Okay, off to bed. Until next time...

movin' on up

Tomorrow Today is going to be a big day around these parts. We're officially starting the potty training process! I've been hemming & hawing over this for some time now, but I think we'd better just take the plunge. Jonathan shows some signs of being ready. In fact, he's already pee pee'd on the potty once and actually pooped on the potty on 2/21! (I can't believe I didn't blog that!) It's mostly just me being scared to take the first step. I'm a person who needs a definitive way to do things that brings a certain result. If you do this, this & this you get this result. Potty training is so not like that & it freaks me out. So, after much consideration, discussion and advice from friends & family we've decided to move to the next step. We now have two potty chairs, one that will stay in the bathroom and one that will move about the house as necessary. As for a reward, that was easy; the kid loves M&M's.

Right now the plan is as follows:
* be naked as much as possible (him, not me, LOL) in the hopes that he'll become more aware of when he needs to go
* load the kid up on fluids
* set the timer for every 20 minutes & try to potty each time
* if he goes... go crazy celebrating & give him reward
* pee pee = 1 m&m
* poop = 2 m&m's

We'll go with this plan for several days/week and see how it's going, then evaluate to see if anything needs to be changed. Your prayers/good thoughts would be greatly appreciated... and any advice you have would be great too!

I love watching Jonathan build friendships. Friday we had a play date with his friend Nate & Nate's mommy, Mae. The boys play really well together & I love chatting with Mae; we always have a great time. This week I brought my camera to snap some pics of them in action. If only I'd had a video camera available while they were punching this whatever-you-call-it. They giggled non-stop; it was too funny.





So, Saturday I bit the bullet & went to Weight Watchers. I was very pleasantly surprised with the results. In the past when I've been away for any period of time I've put on about 2 pounds a week. Ack! Well, I hadn't been in three weeks, but had only gained 2.6! I consider that a victory for sure. I'm still trying to work through my issues, but I'm just going to take it one day at a time.

Well, it's now nearly 1 am and I'd better get to bed. It's going to be a busy day!