Lenten Challenge: Cookies, Spinkles, Coffee, OH MY!

Day 2 - I got Coop and his nanny some cookie dough to bake cookies valentine's night. In Coop's valentine's basket he got a variety of heart/red&blue items including a tub of blue and red heart "spinkles". When I filled his basket, I got the sprinkles in hopes that he and I would bake cookies together. Coop really doesn't like eating the cookies, but he loves getting his hands dirty and eating sprinkles so this seemed like the perfect activity for us. The act of kindness wasn't getting the dough for he and his nanny, but instead giving his nanny the activity I had hoped to do with him, true bonding that I knew he would love, something that I am not usually very good at sharing.

Day 3 - I bought a guy coffee today. He was behind me in line at Starbucks and looked like he was having a not so great morning... you know as much as I could assess from my side view mirror. He may just be one of those people who doesn't smile at rest, or maybe he had a bad morning. Whatever it was, I hope his free coffee made his morning, if at least for a moment and that he was able to extend some kindness to someone else. 

But frankly, I am not sure it was him that received the kindness, though. The guy who worked at Starbucks was pretty stoked. It was interesting to watch the reactions of the 3 or 4 people working the drive-thru and line (is that what its called at a coffee bar??). It seemed they were the true recipients of my $4.00 act of kindness. They seemed to smile a little brighter, too. I think the best part was watching the kindness move in a direction I didn't expect. I thought I was impacting the guy in the car behind me, but it was the staff that seemed the most moved.

Lenten Challenge 2013

Lenten Challenge: Day 1 - Turning rain into sunshine!

Being a good mother to Cooper has always been an extremely high priority of mine. There are a lot of people out there whose path does not include being a parent even if that is something that they want. I believe that is a big part of why I put so much pressure on myself to make good decisions and take time to raise Cooper to be polite and sweet and thoughtful. He is a gift from God and with that comes a great responsibility.

I really enjoyed our 30 days of thanks. I may even make that a thing we do every year. So for Lent this year, we wanted to do something similar. The Kindness Project seemed like just the ticket! What better way to reflect on what it is like to be like Jesus than to do nice things for people and expect nothing in return.

Don't get me wrong, I totally get that Cooper isn't even 3. Does he even get it? Probably not, but I do think we will have stories and evidence to show him next year and the year after, so the sooner we start the better off he will be. I don't really think he got his pleases and thank yous when he was signing them, long before he could talk, but Rick and I are told what great manners he has, almost every day. Ya know, so something has worked!

So last night, all of my free time was spent gathering ideas of things we could do as random acts for kindness, like baking cookies for the postman and sending random "I love you's" to aunts and uncles. So I pinned a bunch of stuff and intended to make a list of all the things we would do.

Then, today Coop got sick, which turned into a day of this momma feeling sorry for the both of us because a 102 fever equals no Yo Gabba Gabba Live! Which is where we would've been right now instead of sick on the couch. My self-loathing took my focus away and I ended up being pretty down, completely forgetting our Lenten promise.

When I finally made the call that our evening plans needed to be canceled, my first thought was to try to find someone to give the tickets to, not to sell but to give. The tickets were a gift to Cooper and we should give that gift on to someone who was going to have as much fun as we would.

So I called one of Cooper's buddy's moms and she was thrilled. I know they are having a blast and that makes me really happy, makes me forget the sadness I felt that Coop and I weren't going to get this night together. [In fact, we got a text while I was writing this that said just that!]

So I was driving home tonight and realized I completely forgot about our Lenten promise. I didn't make my list of random acts of kindness nor did I even complete one. How could I fail the first day??

But then I realized sharing the tickets was a random act of kindness. It was done for no other reason than to be sure a family we love, had a good time. How could a fever on a rainy day turn into such a bright ray of sunshine? Well, that is just the way God works. Let go and let God and listen with an open heart!

And I realized that should be the point of our kindness project... We shouldn't plan a bunch of additional activities but instead search for opportunities to be kind to others each day. I think what may end up happening is that we will end up doing way more than 1 act a day. And maybe, just maybe changing, even if just a bit, to be a little more like Jesus. I am pretty sure that is the point of Lent.

VeryJane.com Giveaway!

So my latest obsession is veryjane.com. This website offers great deals on all sorts of items. I got a pretty sweet pendant in the shape of Virginia with a heart over Richmond which is probably my most favorite item I have purchased. But I have gotten tons of other stuff like washi tape and cupcake cups and beautiful jewelry. I just can't get enough! So I am entering their new years giveaway not only because the prizes are awesome, but its another way to support this website so they can get even more vendors!

You can enter too here!

Potty Partay!

So I bought Cooper a potty when he was about 18 months old. Everything I have always read said that is the earliest a child will be ready for potty training. We didn't do anything with it, just put it next to our potty and were able to relay its purpose with various books. I started inviting him with me when I went so he could get used to the idea. 

He was really interested at first. In fact, he kept diapers dry for a whole weekend. But at the time, he was in a classroom that wasn't focusing on potty training and to be completely honest, I am not sure I would've gotten the partnership necessary for being quite successful, plus he was really young.

We stopped for the most part after that. If you have ever read anything about potty training, although there are many different theories and ways to be successful, every single one stresses the importance of keeping it exciting and not putting ANY pressure on the child. It just wasn't Cooper's time. He ended up getting really sick after that so it actually worked out for the best. It would've been pretty difficult potty training in a hospital room hooked up to machines all the time.

Fast forward 8 months...

Last Thursday, Cooper woke up dry. After 9 hours of sleep, he was completely dry. I started jumping and cheering and dancing so he of course followed suit. We raced to the potty and he went! We called Daddy (he was out of town for work) and told him what happened. Daddy knew just what to do so Coop would stay excited. We went to work and told all of mommy's friends the good news, everyone did exactly as they should. Coop was glowing! 

Over the past several weeks, Coop started showing all the signs. He was waking up from nap dry almost every day and only going in his diaper 4-6 times each day, sometimes lasting 4 hours in between. It just so happened, this weekend we had no plans so it seemed like this was the time.

That day, I talked to his teacher about coming up with a plan and really encouraging him to sit every diaper change. Coop only wet 3 diapers during school that day. As soon as we got home he went in his potty!

Friday, I brought some potty treats and a potty chart for his teacher. Together they had a mini potty party, hung up his chart in the bathroom and talked about the treats. He sat on the potty but it was clear to his teacher that the potty was a little scary. She said he acted like he might fall in and suggested I bring an insert for it.

Friday after school, Rick and I took Coop to target to pick out his potty seat. He was pretty excited and upon arrival home carried it all around the house. We pulled out the underwear we had gotten back in February, showed them to Coop, hung up his potty chart and checked out the potty treats. We talked about how tomorrow was going to start our Potty Partay No Pants Day! Needless to say Coop was excited.

So I guess I should get to the theory. The theory is the 3 day potty training method. We varied ours a little, shortening it to 2 days instead of 3 official days being that Coop had 2 successful days of "holding it" at school. We also didn't stay completely naked. Saturday morning Coop was really sad after he WENT POTTY that he couldn't put a diaper on so we had to make a minor adjustment. I whipped out his rock star elmo underwear and suggested we put the diapers away for good and wear his big boy pants instead. Thankfully, Coop was excited and that was that.

Over the course of Saturday, Coop had 1 #1 accident and 1 #2 accident. Both were back to back and in the morning. During his #1 accident I thought he was going to cry because he hated it on his legs and feet and underwear. (This being a good sign to his momma!) He stayed dry, going in the potty every time until bedtime. Right before bed, he had another very small accident during story time, in fact I am wondering if he started to go and then stopped because it was so little. Not too shabby for Day #1!

After polling other moms, we were unsure what to do for the night. He stayed dry during nap, but as I mentioned before he has been dry after nap for weeks. We got some waterproof training pants meant to go over Coop's underwear but he HATED them, and I really can't blame him, they are awful. We opted for continuing with the underwear and just used a mattress protector that snapped to his bed rails. 

Coop was SOAKED when he woke up. We cut off liquids around 7pm and he went right before bedtime which is usually 8:30pm. Rick and I quickly agreed we would be going with night time pullups for awhile.

Today, I was super nervous. I have heard that others who have tried this were met with insane resistance the 2nd day. I really had no idea what to expect and honestly was exhausted from being excited about peepee all day the day prior but Coop did wonderfully. He started to tell us when his 15 minute alarm went off no potty mommy. When he actually had to go he would get really excited and race to the potty.

Today, Coop had 1 #2 accident. But ALL of his peepee ended up in the potty. Even after he got his pjs and "nighttime pants" as we are calling them, he went 2 more times before he actually went to sleep. Halfway through today, he would go to the potty and wouldn't even ask for his sticker or treat. We had to remind him and his response was "oh, yeah sure!" like it really wasn't that important.

Throughout the day, Rick and I just kept looking at each other, like is this really happening? I was pretty confident he was ready going into this weekend, but I really had NO IDEA it would go so well.

Thankfully, I warned his teacher last week that if this weekend went well, I would be packing him a basket full of laundry and underwear and we would be going cold turkey. She was totally on board so that definitely helped with our momentum this weekend.

So we said bye bye diapers. We will see them again when the new baby joins us. And hopefully that is far enough away that Cooper won't revert back when the baby comes, but we know that is definitely a possibility.

Don't get me wrong. Coop isn't 100% potty trained. He hasn't gone #2 in the potty since February. And I am sure we will have some accidents tomorrow and the next day and probably over the next several weeks. But all of the success stories I have heard and witnessed were cold turkey, so here we go.

So here we are about to embark on the school week. I am super nervous but as everyone is reminding me, he is super cooper, he will rock it out!

I want to point out we didn't really do anything special. Cooper was ready, and we are just responding to the signs he was sending us. I do know that window of potty opportunity can come and go (I have potty trained a few 4 year olds in my day) and we wanted to give it a shot. Just like we let it go when he showed us signs he wasn't quite ready back in February. Wish us luck! The work is far from over! :)

[Other variations: We didn't leave the house at all on Saturday. We did take him outside Sunday afternoon in the backyard, but the deal was he had to go potty first. This is supposed to teach them to pee on command,and associating the importance of peeing before leaving the house.

We also let him wear pants over his underwear on day 2. He is going to have to wear pants to school. We opted for sweatpants. I only packed him pants that don't need to button for school tomorrow, and he may live in those for the next few weeks, which is totally fine with me. 

And by no means are we going to follow that part about keeping him naked for the first 3 months following this weekend. I am pretty sure the moms of his classmates wouldn't appreciate that.]

30 Days of Thanks

I am participating in the 30 days of thanks this year. My goal is to try to be on a deeper level than listing off 30 things/people I am thankful for but truly finding the best thing about the day. My hope is that it will help me to do this everyday even if the date doesn't start with November. 

Don't get my wrong, I would call myself a grateful person. I use my manners, tell people when they do or say things that mean something to me and even help Cooper list all the people we love each night before bed. but lately with all the things that have happened recently, and my raging pregnancy hormones, maintaining a positive upbeat attitude hasn't come as easily as I would like. Participating in the 30 days of thanks can only help with that. 

So here goes...

November 1st: Today, I am thankful for my season tickets to VCU Basketball. I am so grateful to be able to raise cooper around something I LOVED growing up around. Some of my earliest memories are of ordering roy rodgers and shirley temples at the presidents club with our homemade vcu sweatshirts... and getting candy at 6th street to take into the game. Thank you mom and dad! 

November 2nd: My son's jibberish... It reminds me to be patient, take my time and listen to every sound. What he is saying is as important as he thinks it is because he is really just 2 and its not fair to expect him to be anything but 2.

November 3rd: Today, I am most thankful for ability to spend the entire day with my son. I am so lucky to have a husband to pick up the chores so that I am able to give Coop my undivided attention for potty. I feel like I know Coop better than I did yesterday and no matter whether our potty party is successful or not (although it happens to be going wonderfully), that makes the day totally worth it.

November 4th: Today, I am most thankful for the love my husband has for our son. Listening to rick cheer for coop in the potty after naptime makes me smile. I'm laying in bed now listening to him and cooper play in the backyard and you don't have to know rick to know he's having as much fun as coop. I know he cares so deeply about coop and he will do whatever it takes to be a good dad. I am so excited to see him with our #2.

Coop's School Pictures!

It's official (if it wasn't already!) I am that mom. Yes, that mom.

Ya know the one that cries at everything... (which I can blame on the pregnancy now but what was my excuse 15 weeks ago?) and thinks her kid is the cutest. boy. ever. EVER.

Oh, I said it. I swore I wouldn't be that mom but clearly I can't control it.

So, first you need to go check out his unbelievably amazing school pictures here...
[Go to Orange Room, type the password: oisfororange AND enter your email address to view. If you don't know which one is my kid, you probably shouldn't be purchasing them anyway:]

And then you should probably go to the photographer's website, Carmen Doherty Photography and BOOK HER! Because lets be honest, every single picture posted is pretty amazing (Yeah, even that mom, this mom is admitting it ain't all my kid!).

While you are at it, you are welcome to purchase photos, although if you are related to us, obviously I will supply photos like I do every year and perhaps even a holiday card if I am feeling like an overachiever this year... we shall see.. 

So yeah, I am that mom and although I am not proud of that fact all the time, I sure am stoked on my son in all his rockstar cuteness and that really is all that matters.

Cooperisms!

I know I am a true slacker. I owe posts on how my son went from pneumonia to airway exploration tests to surgery. I owe a post on how my son grew over an inch in 8 weeks because he actually had oxygen moving to all of his cells. And I definitely owe more than one post on how we are preparing to welcome another rice baby in April. But, right now I need to tell a few stories before the hilariousness (oh its a word when you have a 2 year old) is lost. I must preserve these wonderful memories so we can revisit them later.

Cooperism #1
Cooper walks into the den with his face buried in the opening of his rainboot shouting "Oops!" Moments later I realized he is also saying "Silly Turkey!" And then it clicked. He was acting out his favorite book: Blue Hat, Green Hat. Silly Cooper! (You can watch a version here.)

Cooperism #2
Cooper: Grabs hammer and starts pounding daddy's foot.
Daddy: What are you doing?!
Cooper: I fix it! And points to the booboo on daddy's foot.
Daddy: Well, okay!

Cooperism #3
Cooper walks into the den and he has soap all over his hands up to his elbows. Once Rick realizes, he tells Coop that they need to wash it off. After Cooper is all cleaned up, they walk back through the living room and Coop's trike is in the middle of the room COVERED in soap. Next to it sits a wet wad of toilet paper and a bowl of water.
Cooper: BATH!

Cooperism #4
sidenote: If you haven't heard this story in person, consider yourself jipped. I am pretty sure I have cried laughing every time I have told it.
We walk into the grocery cart to get a few things. Coop wants to push the kid size grocery cart. I shop a little on my own and when I catch up, I see Cooper staring at his Daddy in the household aisle. When Rick turns his back, Cooper grabs something off the shelf and throws it into the cart. I realized he is being sneaky and walk over to the cart.
Me: Uh, Rick, what do we need duct tape for?
Rick: Uh, I didn't get any duct tape...
Me: Well what about this 20 pack of tupperware?
Rick: Yep, no that wasn't me.
Me: And the gallon of dishsoap?
Rick: Immediate laughter as he realizes what Cooper has been up to.
Me: So I am going to guess the giant bottle of febreeze isn't ours either...
Laughter so intense I can barely stand up as Cooper stares at me as he realizes his plan is foiled. All I can think of is Fight Club and my son is the next bomb maker.
When we finally make it to the checkout, we unload Coop's cart and we find a single banana, realizing his sneakiness began at the beginning of our shopping trip. This is by far the funniest Cooperism yet.