touring...winter cabin...Uintahs!

...in the cart, all ready to go!

...almost frozen river...

...only 2 and a half months to go!

(I may look tough like I'm just enjoying this, but it was actually a very short ski trip and the only "tough" thing I really did all weekend, was not wash my hair for four days. haha! Otherwise, it was a very relaxing trip and I was well taken care of by my hubby and his dad and brother.)

cousins, friends, and of course, princesses...

...a little head shoulders knees and toes...

"no....I don't...."

...this is little M's new favorite phrase these days. And it's exactly how I feel about potty training. Emphatically, "no....I don't"....like it. Not a bit. None of it....well, except for when I see them get so excited at success. And...when I get to see them learn and the confidence carries over into other parts of their day. Well, also, maybe how I get to just sit and read to them or spend time with them because I can't do anything else while they sit on the potty, lest I come back to all the toilet paper shoved into the bowl, pee pee on the floor, and you can guess the other fun stuff that happens when you leave one or two kids alone with a toilet. And why does it take a kid 20 min to have a bowel movement? So maybe there are a few positive things about this.
But...I can finally say....we have reached an upward climb in this whole process! It's like you start on a plateau before you even have much success. That is not fair! Then you just go and go and go and wonder if there will ever be an end to this...and then...before you realize...you are having success! Ah! At last! After almost 5 months!
For L it just happened one week that she decided she was done having accidents if she could help it. Not that she tells us when she is going to have one yet. But she will hold out for us a long time. And she's been amply rewarded. And who cares that now she can more easily strip herself of her potty friendly clothes, and does so right after a poo poo (sorry about the potty words!) accident and smears it all over her room, or chooses to do so in the middle of the mall and throw a tantrum on the floor, naked. Look at the confidence of this potty-going kid! I wouldn't trade it!
And for M, it happened last week when I decided, after buying yet another $50 box of huggies, "no more diapers" for you and put her in panties. And despite a trip to the potty every hour, all morning....
....She held it.
and held it.
and held it.
Until finally I heard a shriek, "Mommy! Pee pee! I want a diaper!" This from my one-year-old. "No...I don't"...kiddo... you are done with diapers.

Express yourself...CREATE

...the ability is within us all...