From one Mother to Another

Happy Mother's Day

to all you mothers out there (especially my mom and MIL)!!!

A couple of questions/suggestions needed from all my mother friends...

#1-From my non-reading mother friends....A BOOK SUGGESTION... I need a book that is simple to understand/easy to read and really good. I hate reading and the only books I have read in my whole life have been the Twilight books and I read them all in a week, but could not get into or finish The Host. I guess I would also like it to have some undying love (pun intended, hahahaha, Cracking Myself Up). I don't really want to have to think about what I am reading or have a big vocabulary. Is there anything else out there for me to read while I am passing time waiting for Emmy at gymnastics???

#2- From my organized mother friends....How do you organize your PHOTOS?...By year?kid?event? Although my picture supply is not growing as fast in this digital age, I still have not been able to figure out how to organize my pictures. They are currently (and have been for weeks now) in a huge mess on the floor of my bedroom. I have photo boxes and a labeler, but just can't seem to figure out what would be best. Please let me know what works for you? A couple of examples of why I can not choose one way...I have Easter pictures, but there happens to be a cute picture of Claire...does that go under Claire or Easter?

#3- How do you handle a difference in style between you and your daughters??? I just took Macey shopping and I just about gagged at some/most of the things she liked. Some of the things, there is no way I will spend money on them, but I also think that she should be able to have her own sense of style, so what do you do????

Pants for Sale, Anyone?

I was parusing Target and ran acorss these. OK. So I am not "fashion forward", but come on. These pants are hideous. I hope none of you have or plan on buying these MC Hammer pants. These should never ever be back in fashion. Ever. And the "gold" color makes them extra special.

Do You See What HE Sees?

I had the great opprotunity to attend a "body image" presentation tonight along with the young women and it was awesome! I would not say that I have a body image problem ( I just recently decided to be more conscious about my overall health which would result in a healthier looking body), but I definitely benefited from the information especially when it comes to dealing with my own daughters and the pressure they will/do deal with in this world we live in.

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This was one of the videos that they showed in the presentation that shows how [unrealistic] it is to achieve this look! It's great! I do not think I realized all that they could do with those programs.

Watch Dove video here!

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There were a lot of great things said and I could not possibly type them all here, but a few things stood out to me...

One of the sisters giving the presentation had a story about when she was pregnant with her first child and some older ladies she worked with took her to lunch and were very concerned for her. They went on to tell here that the baby will be really ugly when it is born, but not to worry that it would be better in a few days. She remarked how after she had her baby her immediate reaction was how {beautiful} her baby was and how certain she was, that all of our moms had the same feeling when we were born.

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She also had another story about when her and her daughter were checking out from the ENT doctor and the receptionist proceeded to tell her that she had seen a lot of noses and that she definitely had the smallest nose she had ever seen. Not in a nice "oh how cute" kind of way. And she recalls how her daughter automatically put her hand to her nose because she had her mothers nose and until that moment she had never even had the thought that her nose was not perfect.

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I can't even tell you how great it was and that they need to put it in video form so that all women can see it and these poor ladies don't have to personally keep doing this presentation! I know they are competely booked through September so if they happen to be coming to your ward and you have the chance to attend it's a must!

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One last thing that they talked about that hit home with me and I thought was really funny...The sister was referring to the media, commercials, magazines, etc. that we allow in our homes when she said..If there was a lion loose in your neighborhood would you open the door? Well, h%&! no! (that was my quote) This is so hilarious to me because I actually have nightmares of running into a lion or a tiger loose on the streets and the anxiety of how to get away from it so it was a strong metaphor to me. Why would we invite these things in our lives?!?!?

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Anyways, it was an awesome presentation and I hope that the young women took it to heart because they are bombarded more and more by satan's attack on the one thing he does not have-a human body. Anyone with a body has the power to resist whatever satan throws at them. I just hope that I can instill a good sense of self in my daughters so that they are not influenced by these pressures.

*****

P.S. After I posted this I thought of one more thing...My what big hips you have (imagine little red riding hood) oh these are too birth children with. HAHAHA-I crack myself up sometimes-especially into the late hours of the night. The sister did touch on the fact that we were given these bodies to birth children and what a miracle that is and that we should appreciate the hips, boobs and body changes that come with it. So appropriate to appreciate as we approach Mother's Day.

Peach Season

The first ripe peaches of the season! Yum!

New Wardrobe in Waiting

These are my "skinny" pants that I keep around for when I can fit into them again. I remember when I bought some of these pants thinking that they were big and that was depressing at the time and now that is my [goal], to fit into them again, before the summer is over by whatever means necessary (OK not anorexia or bulimia).

I don't even own a scale.

I don't care about numbers.

It's more about how my clothes fit.

Going for {looser and smaller}

It's all about looking better and feeling better about myself-ya kind of vain, but whatever the motivation

I am doing it.

I guess it is also motivated by the fact that I need more clothes and I do not want to buy them in my current size so excuse me while I wear the same 2 or 3 pairs of shorts for the next month or two hopefully to never see them again.

We'll Get Right On That

I guess they are good for something (even if it is stroking my husband's ego):) Way to be honey!

Potty Training was a SUCCESS!!!

***WARNING****

This post contains potty talk and may be TMI for some of you!!!

I am also knocking on wood as I type it:)!

I should document this momentous occasion...

Tate is potty trained!

I know there are some people that are disgusted by older toddlers that are not potty trained, but I was not in a hurry to enter the world of:

pooped underwear

accidents in public

multiple mad dashes to the toilet while trying to grocery shop (or any shopping for that matter)

Tate really was showing [no] interest and had never gone to the bathroom in the toilet so I never wanted to push or force him because that just ends up being [torture] for both of us.

Well, enough was enough 2 Sundays ago I told Tate that he was going to wear underwear the next day and no more diapers. So, there was nothing on the calendar for the week and I was going to focus all of my efforts on getting him potty trained. I had planned on lots of accidents, those mad dashes and not making it, I even set the "potty" timer for every 15 minutes. Well I learned quickly the differences between boys and girls (which is what I was basing my past potty training experiences on). He just ran naked for the first few days so he could concentrate on it more and we had a sticker potty chart. He took to it immediately!

For some reason after a couple of days he started resisting pooping in the toilet and I was not going to keep dealing with that so I told him he got a new truck if he pooped in the potty and he gets it taken away if he has an accident, and he has done perfectly since then.

I prepared for it to be a nightmare instead, it has been a dream. I never even have to remind him he just runs in there by himself and we rarely have to visit the bathroom when we are at the store. He has even been dry every night!!!

It was definitely worth the wait!