The odd thing about not . . . → Read More: My sisters say I don’t blog enough]]> And they’re totally right.  I told them to come clean my house so I would have time to actually do something else outside of work, but all I got were wrinkled noses and shaking heads on that one.  But, I’m trying to write a blog anyway.  YOU’RE WELCOME, SISTERS.

The odd thing about not writing much is that I don’t know where to pick up.  Do I go through and recap everything, like how cute Claire looked as a little witch on Halloween and how much she is loving preschool and regale you with tales of my quirky coworkers?  Or do I just pretend that I’ve been narrating all along and act like this bloggy and I are old friends?

I was reflecting today on what a rollercoaster ride this parenting thing is (SHOCKER, I know) and all the highs and lows we’ve been through recently with our offspring.  A few weeks ago she went on an all out poop strike, even going so far as to make itty-bitty signs and to form a picket line outside the bathroom.  (Ok, not really.  Instead there was lots of screaming and squirming.)  I was certain that we’d screwed her up and made her afraid somehow.  But after much trial and error and patience and Googling and hand-wringing and eventually a call to the pediatrician we have it mostly figured out.  Had I known ten years ago that someday my entire day’s happiness would be based on a little person pooping I would’ve been mighty depressed indeed.

So then after the high of thinking “hooray, we fixed our kid!” I was listening to her play today and realized that most of what she was saying revolved around her putting her toys in time-out and expressing her extreme displeasure with how naughty they were being.  And then whoosh, down the hill I went again on that roller-coaster realizing that THIS is what she’s picked up from us as parents?  Well, isn’t that lovely!  But then I thought about it some more and realized that this is probably normal, I think I remember doing the same thing as a kid.  And then the more I thought about it I realized, HEY, we aren’t such bad parents after all!  Because as she put her toys in time-out instead of saying awful things and calling her toys names and stuff, she was saying things like “I am not happy about this” in her most stern manner.  And that’s awesome!  Because that means we are doing something right by not using abusive language!  She learned that nice language from us!  I’ll have to remember to high-five my husband over that one before bed tonight.  It’s the little victories, people.

Anyway, life is good lately.  Busy and hectic and getting more busy and hectic it seems, but I’ve realized lately how very fortunate we are to be surrounded by truly wonderful people.  We have the most amazing family, friends, and neighbors, that I really can’t complain about anything.  And I’m not just saying that because I know my sisters are reading this.

By the way sisters, the offer for you to clean my house in exchange for blog posts is still on the table.  Babysitting is also accepted payment for blogging.  I’m pretty sure we can come to an agreement here.

Claire:  “I want a hamburger!”

Me:  “Sorry sweetie, we are going to eat at home instead because you didn’t obey me at Grandma’s house and pick up your toys when I asked.”

Claire:  “I want a hamburgerrrr!!!”

Me:  “I know, but I told . . . → Read More: Wherein I am put in my place by a toddler]]> The conversation in the car today with the 3 year old:

Claire:  “I want a hamburger!”

Me:  “Sorry sweetie, we are going to eat at home instead because you didn’t obey me at Grandma’s house and pick up your toys when I asked.”

Claire:  “I want a hamburgerrrr!!!”

Me:  “I know, but I told you we could get one if you were obedient and picked up your toys, but you didn’t listen to me and had to go to time out instead.”

Claire:  “But I don’t want to eat at home!  I want a hamburger!”

Me:  “Sorry honey, we’ll get one another time.  I still love you though.”

*silence*

Claire:  “I love Daddy.”

While I realize I’ve been light in the posting department lately, I wanted to give a little shout out to dads.

Dads are awesome aren’t they?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, moms are awesome too.  But I’m a firm believer that having . . . → Read More: Fathers]]> A happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there yesterday!

While I realize I’ve been light in the posting department lately, I wanted to give a little shout out to dads.

Dads are awesome aren’t they?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, moms are awesome too.  But I’m a firm believer that having a mom AND a dad is just good as gravy.  The yin and the yang, you know?

Without a dad, who would fix your bike or teach you how to swing a baseball bat?  Who would take you on daddy-daughter dates to the mountains or to get hamburgers? Who would help you pick out your first car and stay up late to help you with your algebra?  Who would still come over after you’ve moved out to build shelves, assemble tables, lay sod, and make sure your carbon monoxide detector was plugged in?  Who would teach you that quality is often better than quantity or that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Who would tell you all the time how beautiful you were, or teach you that you can do ANYTHING you want in life?

My dad did all those things, and continues to.  Seriously, I was blessed with the best parents.

And you know how when you were a little girl you used to imagine your husband and you’d hope that he would be a kick-A dad?

Turns out, my baby-daddy is better than I could’ve even imagined.

Claire ADORES him, and deservedly so.  She thinks I’m ok most the time, but daddy?  Daddy is the coolest person walking planet earth.

I’m so glad my little girl has a dad who plays with her, cuddles her, sings to her, listens to her, cooks for her, works for her, and loves her endlessly.

He’s pretty cute too.  I’m glad we get to keep him.

On Thursday the husband left for a 4 day backpacking trip through the Southern Utah wilderness.  As he has been finishing . . . → Read More: All by my lonesome]]> This week, everyone up and left me.  Just like that!  Can you believe it?  Total lame-sauce.  I suppose they didn’t leave me behind on purpose, it’s just how it turned out.  But still…

On Thursday the husband left for a 4 day backpacking trip through the Southern Utah wilderness.  As he has been finishing up his final credits for his degree this summer, he took a backpacking class to fulfill some goofy elective requirement.  The “final” was a backpacking trip.  From what I hear, he is in the middle of NOWHERE with no cell service, so I’m crossing my fingers that all is well and that he makes it home safely tomorrow.

So if it wasn’t enough to have my other half wandering through some desolate canyon four hours away, the rest of my family jetted off to Europe on Friday!  And I wasn’t with them!  Ahh!!  Instead, I’m the designated cat-sitter for them.  Which is almost as glamorous?  Let’s face it, this weekend I’ve been the lonely, crazy cat-lady.

Fortunately, I’ve had my sweet little girl to keep me company.  As it turns out, when not wetting their pants 2-year olds can really make for some great company.  When did my baby turn into a little person?  You know, with opinions and stories to tell and questions to ask?  I’ve realized over the last couple of days that we now can carry on actual two-way conversations (more or less), and it is delightful!  For me, anyway.  I don’t know about her.  I’m guessing it is any day now before she slaps her forehead in embarrassment over something odd I’ve said.

Speaking of odd conversations!  After putting her to bed tonight she started hollering for me from her room.  “Mom!  I need something!  Hey, mom!”  After going to the door and asking what she needed, she replied in the most certain tone, “I need a ball of yarn.”  A wha???  Pretty sure she’s never seen an actual ball of yarn in her life.  Still scratching my head over that one.

While the occasional evening of “me” time can be nice, I sure miss my husband.  There’s really nothing better than being married to your best friend, you know?  Looking forward to tomorrow… In the meantime, who wants to save me from being the crazy cat-lady?

*crickets*

Ok, well, even if you’re not, here you go:

My kid is potty-trained!  Yay!!!!!

We haven’t changed a diaper in almost a month.  . . . → Read More: The good news]]> In my last post I alluded to some good news and then disappeared for a week.  I know you’ve all been on edge and just dying to know, haven’t you?

*crickets*

Ok, well, even if you’re not, here you go:

My kid is potty-trained!  Yay!!!!!

We haven’t changed a diaper in almost a month.  It’s practically like getting a raise, not having to buy diapers anymore.

This might seem odd, but ever since she was an infant I stressed about potty-training.  I mean, how in the world do you train a completely irrational and easily distractable little person to do their business in a wee potty?  No one trained me on how to train someone to do this, and I certainly don’t remember my own training!  The whole set-up seems rather preposterous.

There were a few basic tidbits offered by our pediatrician and the interwebs:

-  Let her observe us using the bathroom.  I realize that sounds disgusting and strange, but her doctor said at her 1 year appointment that this would lay the building blocks for potty training.

-  Make it sunshine and rainbows and one big party all the time!  Negativity is a big, fat no-no.

-  Bribes are awesome

-  It only works if the kid is ready

Over the last several months we’ve toyed around with potty training a bit, thinking she was ready, but then quickly realized she was NOT ready so we backed off.  This time around though, I knew she was ready and declared that it was time and come hell or high water, we were jumping in and not looking back.  We hid the leftover diapers (because if she knew we still owned any she would simply insist she wear the diapers instead) and stocked up on tiny underpants and carpet cleaner.

It was a Tuesday.  The diapers had been stashed away, the M&M’s had been purchased, the towels were draping the couch, and our schedule had been cleared for the next several days.  That morning, after a few brief tears of not wanting to grow up quite yet (I may or may not have shed some myself), the little potty was put to use and everyone rejoiced!  But then, that very same day, The Great Hand Catastrophe occurred and I thought for sure the whole thing would go right out the window.  But wouldn’t you know it, my little champ of a child persevered and through all the tears and trauma she stuck with it.  I couldn’t have been more proud.

So here we are, four weeks later, and I haven’t changed (or purchased!) a diaper in ages.  Overall, things have been going well.  At first I thought she had it down within just a few days, but then she kind of regressed a little bit?  Now we seem to be dealing with little accidents here and there, so instead of being all MY KID IS POTTY TRAINED, EXCLAMATION POINT!  I’m kind of like, MY KID IS POTTY TRAINED, QUESTION MARK?  I’m kind of at a loss of how to get her 100% there.  Suggestions?  Is this something she just has to do on her own time?  Seriously, I have no idea what I’m doing here, people.  Teach me.

Either way, the whole thing is pretty fantastic, if you ask me.

P.S.  In other good news, her hand is healing up very nicely, finally!  Just one little band-aid left on the most mangled finger, but she is using her hand like normal now and all is well.  HALLELUJAH!

I love the idea of taking days to recognize our parents.  Good golly, I would probably die without my mom.  She’s always been so great.  I know I definitely needed her as a kid- depending on her for all my physical and emotional needs.  We were . . . → Read More: Mother’s Day]]> Did everyone have a nice Mother’s Day weekend?

I love the idea of taking days to recognize our parents.  Good golly, I would probably die without my mom.  She’s always been so great.  I know I definitely needed her as a kid- depending on her for all my physical and emotional needs.  We were always always always well taken care of.  The funny thing is though, even though I’m all grown up and on my own, I feel like I need my mom just as much now, especially because I’m a mother myself.  I don’t think I can count the number of times I’ve called her all in a frenzy, worry and anxiety weighing down my voice, asking how to best handle yet another mothering situation that I’m clueless about.  I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful example of both a mother and a kind, generous, righteous, and selfless woman.

This mother’s day was hectic yet nice.  My sweet baby girl came into my room bearing a gift bag, accompanied by a big smile and a twinkle in her eye.

“Here, mommy!”, she chirped in her tiny voice.  “I have a su-pwise for you!”

Good heavens, do I need any other gift after such a sweet visual of a darling little girl who is happy to please her mother?  Even with the exasperating negotiations and power struggles, just having her in my life is the greatest gift I could ask for.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, sometimes the Internet makes things so very muddled thanks to the massive availability of everyone’s opinion.  Many in the world do not value motherhood.  Happily, many do and I think that more and more women are embracing it after the previous decades of trying to stuff it into a box labeled “family” and not letting the corporate world see it, lest a career be damaged.  Many recognize motherhood as being of the divine, and not merely limited to those who have borne children but extended to those who nurture all of God’s children.  I recently read and loved this article from Sheri L. Dew.  So many beautiful reminders for women, both those currently with and without children of their own!

One of the opinions that I’ve come across on the Internet is debates within my own faith about whether women are discriminated against and repressed because they do not hold the Priesthood.  In my heart of hearts, I have not felt that this is so.  But by feeling that way, am I falling prey to old-fashioned and incorrect notions and turning away from the feminist ideas that I am typically passionate about?  Despite feeling peace over the fact that worthy men hold the Preisthood and I do not, am I somehow wrong in this and should be outraged over gender inequality, as many other female bloggers are?  No, I don’t think so.  I think that if, as faithful women, we feel that way we are forgetting something vitally important about our roles on this earth and in heaven as well as our very natures.  Sister Dew puts it best:

“President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that ‘God planted within women something divine.^{‘ 6} That something is the gift and the gifts of motherhood. Elder Matthew Cowley taught that ‘men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls … and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.’ ⁷

Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is ‘as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.^{‘ ”}

Some might say that Mother’s Day is a nice way to honor the woman who birthed and raised us.  The cynical might even say that is is just another ploy by retailers to con you into buying pricey cards and flowers.  Personally, I’d like to think of it as a day not only to honor the kind women in our lives and kiss the cheeks of the little ones who depend on us, but also to remember the divine calling all women have to nurture and lead God’s children home again.

And then I went here, and thought that this is surely where I belong:

But I don’t live near either of . . . → Read More: Where I belong]]> I have never lived by the beach (which is a sad, sad thing) but I’ve always felt as though that is where I belonged.

And then I went here, and thought that this is surely where I belong:

 (Picture not taken by me...obviously)

But I don’t live near either of these places.  I live at the foot of the mountains.  And this last year, I’ve come to discover that I love my mountains just as much as I love the big city and even the beach.  However, my love for the mountains was grown in the summer when we could do all manner of outdoorsy adventures such as biking, hiking, and roasting marshmallows.  Then the snow came down and all our mountainous fun was ruined.  And yes, skiing and snowboarding are always popular winter sports and I live among the best snow on earth, but that sort of activity takes $$$$.  (And it secretly has always kinda scared me, even after taking lessons.)

A couple of days ago we went up into the high Uintas with my family to stay at a cabin and go snowmobiling.

And you know what I discovered?  I love the mountains in the winter too. (As long as I’m wearing 40 layers of clothing)

I was overwhelmed by the sense of solitude and peace…and the beauty!

I also discovered that a bundled up two year old in winter clothes is adorable:

You see this picture right here?  You see that look in her eye?  PURE MISCHIEF:

Now if only some billionaire wanted to give me a cottage on the beach, an apartment in NYC, and a cabin in the mountains, my split personality could finally be at peace.

As usual, we pretty much ate our way through the holiday (new year resolutions, here I come!) and enjoyed time with the fam.  We visited, we cooked, became enraged over cooking disasters (me), we talked, we opened presents, the car died on Christmas Eve and . . . → Read More: A merry little Christmas]]> How was everyone’s Christmas?  Good, yes?  Ours was nice.

As usual, we pretty much ate our way through the holiday (new year resolutions, here I come!) and enjoyed time with the fam.  We visited, we cooked, became enraged over cooking disasters (me), we talked, we opened presents, the car died on Christmas Eve and had to be left on the side of the road.  You know, that old song and dance.

And oh, the driving, driving, and more driving!

The holiday was nice, but e.x.h.a.u.s.t.i.n.g.  Each night over the weekend I think I fell face first into bed and had dreams of future Christmases on an isolated tropical island.

I always enjoy the time with family though, and we all got spoiled by Santa.  The little one sure had fun this year opening presents!  Having her get to an age where she can appreciate it has brought a whole new dimension to Christmas.

PICTURES!

Mmmmm….whipped cream…

I’ll look at the dude, but don’t you dare make me sit on his lap…

Oh hey, I really didn’t take many pictures over Christmas- nor did I really get any good ones.  Too hectic.

Anyway, hope you and yours and a great holiday!