Mother's Words of Wisdom

For the next 6 days, you will all have the privilage of reading guest posts from some of my favorite mommy bloggers, as I begin the series, "Mother's Words of Wisdom" or "Mom WoW" (not at all like Sham-wow, by the way).

I chose each of these ladies to write in about a specific area where they shine brightly.  Hopefully we can all learn something from these awesome moms in their different walks of life.  They have each taught me something and helped me along this motherhood journey and encouraged me along the way.  I'm sure you'll enjoy them as much as I do!

You can head over to their blogs now to get a peak into what they're really like.


Monday- Suzanne from Already Right Where I Belong.  "The Newbie Mom"

Tuesday- Callie Nicole from Through Clouded Glass. "The Christian Mom"

Wednesday- Stephanie from Doyles Days.  "The Military Mom"

Thursday- D from Unpolished Parenting.  "The Working Mom"

Friday- Allie from Table For More. "The Real Housewife Mom"

Saturday- Aly from Aly's Bloggity Blog. "The Relocated Mom"


Don't forget to check back in each day this week for Mother's Words of Wisdom!

I Gonna Go To Publix

Marco loves Publix.

For those of you who are unaware, Publix is a supermarket located in the South East.  And it's pretty great.  They're tag line is "where shopping is a pleasure"... and really, it IS a pleasure, most of the time.

Marco thinks it's a pleasure ALL of the time, especially since they give kids a complementary cookie.  He knows this... and exploits it.  He asks everyday if we can go to "Puglits" and when we pull into the parking lot, he screams, "See it?!  Mama, see it?!  It's Puglits... PUGLITS!"

He made up this song to express his love and devotion for Publix.  And I think it's adorable.
Enjoy.

Potty Training: We Got It!

I haven't posted about our potty training saga in a while because, let's face it... it was a hard and long battle.  But now, my friends, I'm happy to report that I think we've got it!

I also wanted to provide an update because when I look at my stats, the potty training posts are viewed often.  In case you missed the past ones, here you go:

Potty Training: Prep
Potty Training: Day 1
Potty Training: Days 2-3
Potty Training: Not Done Yet

Since my last post, we got back on the horse and got strict with the underwear rule.  You know, I had just gotten lazy and started putting Pull Ups on him all the time.  Well, is there a difference between a Pull Up and a diaper?... uhhh, no.  So, it was me this time that had to put on my big girl panties and deal with the PITA that is potty training.

But you know what... after a few days, it got better... and then after a few weeks, even better.  Now, he only wears a Pull Up to sleep for nap and night time.  Other than that, he is in his big boy undies 100% of the time... regardless of where we are.

Does that mean that sometimes we have to made a mad dash to the bathroom?
Yes.
Does that mean that sometimes he fakes me out and says he has to go when he really doesn't just for attention sake?
Unfortunately Yes.

But it'll get better.

He's really excited about his underwear.  He's got Cars, Mickey and Yo Gabba Gabba ones.  He tells me every day that he wants to wear "unnerware".  I can now use the diaper as a consequence... like if he doesn't want to pee before we leave the house then I tell him we'll have to put on a diaper and he'll be like a baby.  To which he quickly repsonds that he's "the big boy, not the baby... Jonas is the baby".  And he pees!  Success!

He's also pooping on the toilet... he runs and tells me he has to go and then does.  And when he's done, he says, "Mama cleans da booty, Marco cleans da pee-pee." LOL

Granted, he still has accidents here and there... if I forget to remind him.  But sometimes if I put him on time out he'll pee himself... I think this is manipulation.  He's paying me back for putting him on time out.  Hmm.

Overall, I'm really pleased with his progress.  I know he's not "fully" potty trained until he sleeps with and underwear too, but I'm really impressed!

And we're saving loads on not having to buy diapers every week... because we really only use 2 Pull Ups a day, so we go through a box in a month!  Yay for savings!

My Teenaged Toddler

Did you know I can see into the future?

It's not too difficult... when your toddler acts like a teenager.

Marco decided yesterday that he did not want to wear the shirt I had picked out for him, so he wanted to wear NO shirt with jeans.  Here he is... stuffing his face with a candy bar that he snuck out of the kitchen.  A teenager, I tell you.

Then later that evening, he went into the living room and packed his book bag full of blocks. Then he came over and put on his socks and shoes.  Our conversation continued like this:

Me- Marco, what are you doing?

Marco- I'm going bye-bye.

Mau-  Where to?

Marco- I'm going out to the car.

Me- Who's car?

Marco- Mama's car.

Mau- So you're going outside to Mama's car?

Marco- Yes.

Me- And where are you going?

Marco- uhhhhhhhhh

Mau- You're not going anywhere unless you tell me where you're going...

Marco- To play with blocks with friends. Ok?  Mama, give me big kiss.

*kiss*

Marco- Papai, big kiss.

*kiss*

Marco- Ok, I love you guys.  Bye guys.  

Then he proceeds to walk to the door and unlock it.  The chain was on, and he wasn't able to open it.   So he came back.

Marco- Mama, get up.  Come here.  Help Marco.

Me-  You're going out?

Marco-  Help Marco open the door.

Me-  But what about your brother?  You don't invite him to go with you?

Marco-  Jonas?  Come play with friends?  Let's go. 

Then he holds Jonas hand with one arm, and his book bag with the other and walked off. 

I swear it was the cutest thing I've ever seen and I'm kicking myself for not having my phone handy to take a picture.  

But seriously... what is this?  Can you not hear this EXACT conversation occurring 12-15 years from now?

A Handmade Birthday Exchange

Today is my bestie, Jen's birthday. Happy birthday Jen!!! She is exactly 9 days younger than me, our maiden names are almost exact and even our social security numbers are nearly matching! It was meant to be... We'll be friends forever.

To celebrate our birthdays this year, we decided to make it a challenge. We could only spend $10 and it had to e a gift from Etsy.

Sounds easy? Not until you actually begin sorting through Etsy. There is soooo much stuff that it's completely overwhelming. Unless you know what you want, it's hopeless. And even if you know what you want, there's so much to choose from that it takes hours to narrow down your options.

It was fun.

Jennifer is a great cook... She wanted to start a cooking blog but hasn't gotten around to it yet. (I'm waiting!). And she's also a wonderful hostess. She has a small cupcake hobby/business on the side called "the Cupcake Boutique". So I thought thy the perfect gift for her would be... An apron.

My search began. I looked at EVERY Etsy store that sold aprons. What I discovered was that full sized aprons were usually $30 and up. Remember we had a $10 limit. So my search was narrowed down again to half aprons.

I looked and looked but everything $10 and under was either ugly, flimsy or cheap looking. I kept on looking and finally I found it! The pattern, adorable. The quality, thick. The price, perfect... $10 even. I contacted the seller and got one on the way immediately.

The shop is called Aprons by Monica and it's a new and small shop.  She's got lots of cute stuff and they're all reasonably priced.  This is the one I bought for Jen.

I think she loved it...

Jen bought me a beautiful pair of music note hair pins, but I don't know which store she got it from.

It was a Happy Etsy Birthday to us!