The Best of 2008

Process of Potty Training

For Christmas Samuel got a potty chair and some Thomas the Train undies. On Saturday he went peepee in the potty for the very first time. My boy is growing up and I'm so proud of him.

But, I am in no hurry for him to be fully potty trained. I know the time must come. Everyone eventually uses the toilet. But, contrary to what some may believe, potty training a child is not easier than just changing a diaper.

When Judah has to use the bathroom out in public that means I take all three kids in with me. If we are somewhere without a cart or stroller (Barnes and Noble) I, mostly likely, have a baby strapped to my chest, have to pull down the pants of the big boy, help him on the toilet, flush, wipe, and wash his hands, all while keeping my toddler from touching anything. Hard feat to accomplish!

Public toilets are disgusting. If Judah just has to pee it works out pretty well. We don't have to touch the toilet at all. (I use my foot to flush.) But, if he has to poop, that means sitting on the toilet. The cover things aren't easy to keep on and he can't just sit he has to hold on to the toilet with both hands. Gross, I know.

If we are at a place where we have a cart (like Target) I either have to get everyone out (huge hassle!) or drag the cart in and ignore the "No carts past this point" sign. I usually choose the latter and figure if any workers see me in there with the kids they won't dare say anything. It's worked so far.

When a child is first potty training you have a limited amount of time to get to the bathroom. When they say they have to go you rush to the nearest toilet, to avoid accidents. With the three kids, mind you.

So, I know the day is coming, and is very near, where my second boy will be fully potty training. But, for now, I'm not in any hurry. He can stay little for as long as he wants.

PS One thing that really bothers me is parents who discipline their children for having accidents. Most accidents are just that, accidents. If parents are spanking, belittling, or making kids feel bad for that it is more than horrible. Dare I say, it's abuse. Kids all progress at their own pace and, like I said before, all eventually are completely potty trained.

And It Keeps Getting Better

Steve Madden has cute shoes. While perusing the website I found lots and lots of shoes that I loved. But, I wanted my black boots (to go along with my brown and camel colored ones, of course). The boots were my Christmas gift for my husband, but it took me a little long to make a final decision on which ones I wanted. Remember, I told you I don't make impulsive shopping decisions.

So, finally, on the night of the 21st- about 8:30 pm - I ordered them. I used a coupon code and got 30% off (it's still good: HappyHolidays30) and got free shipping. My total savings was about sixty bucks. I was really excited! But, we all know there's another side to free shipping and great deals. A downside to the deal. I wasn't expecting my boots for a week or so and I was ok with that. I figured I'd gotten enough from the saved moolah.

But, on the morning of the 24th I heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it. There was my package from Steve Madden. Overnight free shipping!

I love the boots. I love the customer service. I love this company and I can't wait to buy these. So, do your part to help the economy and pay Steve Madden a little visit.

Merry Christmas!

I pray your blessings are abundant this holiday season and in to the new year!



We've had a great Christmas so far! Last night I hosted 17 people (including my 3 kids) for a turkey dinner. We've had lots and lots of events and parties at our house, but this one was different. I'm not sure exactly what was different. Maybe it was my attitude because yesterday I was really stressed out and had a mini meltdown about an hour before everyone showed up. I wanted it to be all cute and classy and Martha-Stewarty (it wasn't), but it was very fun!

I did love having it at my house because it was nice to combine both mine and Eric's families. Eric's parents and youngest sister came along with my mom, sister, aunt and uncle and their family, and my grandparents. We had a gift card exchange, which I highly recommend. It's a lot easier than buying for everyone (especially if you have extra guests) and everyone goes home with something they like and will use. You all put them in the middle and do the white elephant gift thing. I ended up with a mall gift card and Eric with Victoria Secret, so I switched with him. I'm sure I can find a cute clearance sweater!



This morning we woke up (at 9! I'm not looking forward to the days when the boys wake up super early), opened presents, and ate cinnamon rolls. Then, we headed over to my mom's parents house and had some delicious Japanese food for lunch- yellow curry, rice, and suyaki. Yum!

Samuel and Silas are taking a nap right now and Eric and Judah are watching Robots, a new movie. When the boys wake up we're having some family and friends over for a casual meal and to play some games.

I love Christmas. All month there's so much excitement and anticipation and then it's all over. I'm a little sad about it, but I am excited for the new year. I don't know what it will hold for us, but I'm sure it's going to be good!

I Love a Good Deal!

Seriously, love it! I just bought these boots for 30% off at Steve Madden. Right now get anything 30% off with the coupon code HappyHolidays30. If you spend enough (like me) you, also, get free shipping. These are my Christmas present from Eric. Yay!

What are some awesome deals or amazing gifts you've found for Christmas? Are you all done with your shopping? I'm done with everyone, except I want to get one more thing for Judah and Samuel (an accessory for their big gift, which I'll share after Christmas) and one or two more things for Eric. Not bad. Oh yeah, and we have bought and still need to make Christmas presents for two more people (one who reads this blog!).

In the next few minutes Eric will be putting presents together and I'll be wrapping. I'm tempted to just put gifts in bags with tissue, but it's so much more fun to open wrapping paper. My mom is an amazing wrapper and anything I do just doesn't compare!

When Eric and I were engaged I worked at Pier One Imports. One of the jobs that all of us did was wrapping gifts. I went a pretty long time without having to do it, but one day someone asked me to wrap their gift. "Oh no!" I thought in my mind, but I didn't say anything. By the time I was done they looked at my gift with disgust and asked me for some wrapping paper and said she'd do it herself. How embarrassing!

Since then I've learned the importance of cutting off extra paper at the end and using lots of tape to make the paper super tight. Good thing the boys don't care how nice the gift looks!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

are the new sexy. Didn't you know?



And, how hot are those gold leggings? I really wanted them, but when Brooke and I went to Target we discovered they were all out. Then, what do you know, Judah pulls out the last pair in my size. Is he not amazing? I totally would have won the ugliest sweater contest if I was not the organizer of it. Don't you think?

Success!

Today I cooked my very first turkey. People ate it. (They ate all of it!) It tasted like turkey. I have no pictures to prove it, but I'll try to take some when I cook my second one on Christmas Eve.

I've always been really intimidated to cook a turkey. But, it wasn't so hard or scary after all. At least after I got it in the oven.

Last night I noticed the turkey was still a little frozen, so I put it on the counter to thaw for 30 minutes or so. Every evening before our housecleaner comes we rush around trying to get everything put away and ready for her. It was a chaotic night last night.

This morning I woke up to the turkey still on the counter. I searched google to see whether it was still cookable. It, basically, said not to take the chance of food poisoning people, but if you really wanted to cook it you could use it for dog food. Ummm, no thanks.

So, this morning I called around to find somewhere that had fresh turkeys. Thank goodness I found somewhere. (Thank you, Safeway.) I, also, bought some rosemary and sage and stuffed it to make it extra fancy.

Emotions

"Your emotions will take you places that you're not ready to go."

Emotions are crazy things aren't they? My emotions can be so high one moment, then something happens and they are so low. I can feel like my life is perfect and in the same day feel depressed and dejected.

God gave us emotions. He gave us the ability to feel. How boring would life be without emotions? I love the feeling in my stomach, the feeling of passionate love, I have for my husband. I love the feeling I have towards my children, of mother love. I love the feeling I get when I minister to women and see God working in their lives.



Emotions give excitement, flavor, and spice to life. But, those same emotions can lead us down a long, scary path. Rejection can turn to sadness, to depression, and to thoughts of suicide. Of, maybe not even that dramatic. Maybe something happens, we feel sad, and we miss out on fun things in life. Emotions can rob us of our joy.

Did you know that you have the ability to lead your emotions? I didn't always know that. I used to think that I was someone with strong emotions. That I felt things deeply. That I could be so happy or so depressed and that's just how I was and there was nothing I could do about it. That meant that when something bad happened and I felt sad, then that sad event led my life and I had no control over it.

Then, God showed me a powerful weapon. That I had the ability to lead my emotions. Did you know that you can control the way that you feel and that the way that you feel doesn't have to control you?



When someone does something mean to mean I quickly forgive them and pray that God would bless them. Then, I continue on my day with joy. I have peace instead of anger and bitterness. I decide to forgive. I decide to have joy. I decide to have peace. I choose to be led by the truth of the Word of God and not by the way that my emotions happen to feel at that very moment.

I know that my emotions can't be trusted because they're always changing. I can "feel" hurt by something someone does and then later learn that what I "felt" was true wasn't true at all. Or, I can choose truth and make my emotions and feelings line up to truth. That, my friends, is incredibly freeing.

Etsy Gift Guide

I love etsy! There are so many cute, amazing things on there! Unless I know exactly what I'm looking for, sometimes I'll go on and start clicking and my head starts spinning. Too much cute stuff! If you'd love to buy some handmade gifts, but don't know where to start, look no further. All of these things I've already bought, I plan to buy, and/or are friends of mine.



1. Pleated purse by Sweet Baby Creations
2. Baby bib by Charli'z
3. Felt wallet by your wishcake
4. Personalized superhero cape by LuluBirdBoutique
5. Cardiac duct tape wallet by jduct
6. Curious 8x10 print by elsiecake
7. Little dome custom name necklace by moppets closets
8. Custom vinyl family sign by Vinylly Finished
9. Felt stuffed alphabet set by MiChiMa

Edited to add: Shoot! I see the custom vinyl letters didn't show up. Do you know how long that collage took me to make? I made it once, then accidentally closed the window and lost it all. Then, I completely re-made it. I'm not re-making it again. Click the link to see the vinyl sign. It's cool. Also, I don't think I ever knew how to spell vinyl before. I kept wanting to type it "viynl."

I'll probably never learn my lesson

You know those things you probably shouldn't do. But, you do them anyway, and then you're rewarded for them. Then, it just encourages you to keep doing them.

In high school I always procrastinated on my projects/homework/studying for tests. 9 times out of 10 this served me well. I would wait until about 6 pm the night before, work late, sometimes wake up early, then get a great grade. Procrastinating served me well.

The longer I'm married to Eric the more cheap frugal I get. I don't shop impulsively. I usually see something I like. Think about it. Go back and look at it. Look online and see if I can find it cheaper. And, if it's something I really want, I'll go buy it.

A couple months ago I saw this dress at Old Navy.



But, because I'm frugal I didn't want to spend $29.50 at Old Navy. Old Navy stuff is supposed to be, like, $5, right? So, I didn't buy it.

Then, a little over a week ago I saw a picture of someone wearing it. And, it looked even better on. (I didn't bother trying it on because I knew I wouldn't spend the money on it.) I regretted now buying it, but thought maybe I still could. I looked it up online and found that the grey/white one was completely out. The black one was only in a xxl. Darn!

I had once last chance to buy it in the store. When I went in there the medium was completely out. So, I decided to try on the small. The small fit perfect. It was on clearance for $12. (Cheaper than online! Score!) So, see, thinking about purchases for forever pays off. You get the clearance price. As long as it doesn't sell out...

Getting Ready for Christmas

We had family pictures taken today at the park/playground by a friend Eric and I knew in college. The ones he showed me on the camera looked so cute. I'm so excited to see them! Getting family pictures taken is one of my favorite things to do. I don't remember ever taking a professional family picture growing up, so maybe I'm just making up for lost time?

It's Silas' first professional picture taken and I think there are going to be some super cute ones of him! We'll also be using the pictures for our Christmas card, so remember, if you want to swap cards email me at morganf7 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

This year I'm hosting my first official holiday. (I've had Thanksgiving at my house with my mom and my sister, but my mom brought the whole meal, so that doesn't count.) I'm really excited. I think there are going to be about 15 of us. We usually have appetizers and a casual meal on Christmas Eve, but I want to do a dinner just because I'm excited about it. My grandma thinks I'm crazy, but oh well.

I want it to look crafty and cute, so if you have any easy (stressing the easy part) ideas send them my way. I'll post any ideas I find, too. Excited excited excited!! I love Christmas!!!

**Wow, I'm pretty sure I overused the word "excited." Can you tell I'm excited? ha!

Lazy Saturday

Saturdays are my most favorite day! Most Saturdays we don't do anything note-worthy, just hang out together, have fun, and relax.



Today we had to get new front tires on our car, so we took a walk across the street from the shop. There is a tree farm right by there, but we didn't have the double stroller, so we didn't make it that far. We'll have to go another time, though, because it's so pretty.

I haven't been to the gym in a little while (although I'm going a lot next week), so it was nice to get out and walk. I didn't even mind carrying Samuel part of the way, I just told myself it was exercise.



Most Saturdays we have lunch with my dad and sister. My dad works out of town, so the kids love seeing both "Grandpappy" and "Aunt Reni."


Silas really liked the beard

We, also, went to Target, to the grocery, and relaxed at home while Silas took a three hour nap. He's been waking up in the middle of the night and I think it is because he's hungry. The first few days I fed him solid foods he gulped them down. Now every time I try to feed him he gags himself and doesn't want to eat. It doesn't matter what it is, either. I think I'm going to try going back to super watered down (or milked down) rice cereal and start over. Hopefully that will help him sleep better. I'm tired already when I wake up in the morning. Another reason I love Saturday: Eric lets me sleep in!

Doing things different

I usually have my husband do anything hard and that I don't want to do. Fix things, change light bulbs, including putting up the Christmas tree and everything that goes along with it. We cut our tree down on Saturday and by Tuesday it still wasn't up. So, Tuesday night I went and bought a stand (the ones we had were too big for the stump. weird.). Eric put it up in the stand, but it still wasn't decorated. On Wednesday I finally decided to put the lights on myself. It may seem small to you all, but to me it was big. My mom always did it growing up and then Eric did it. It didn't really want to do it, but I did it anyway! :) I put the star up and then the lights and it looked so pretty afterwards. I was very proud of myself.

It's so fun to watch Judah and Samuel's excitement. They love the Christmas tree with the lights, decorating it, making their paper chain countdown, our stockings up, everything about the Christmas season. It's so much more special and magical watching it through the eyes of a four and two year old.


(Yeah, I totally made Eric be in the picture. He got his hair cut, too!)

Today I went to get my hair cut. I told her that I wanted something different, but I didn't really have anything in mind. She suggested bangs and, after a little hesitation, I told her ok. I have never had bangs in my entire life (except the side kind, not even during the 80s). So far I really like them and it is fun doing something new and different. I highly recommend it!

Resting....ahhh.....

We live very busy lives. We are constantly on the go and we love it. Going to cell, meeting with people, going to lunch, to the park, gym, on walks, to Barnes and Noble. All very fun stuff!

But, the last few days we've just stayed at home and relaxed. I've done laundry, did crafts with the kids, decorated the Christmas tree and the house with (a few) Christmas things. We've had lunch here together, chatted with the girls from my cell on the phone, and stayed in my jammies all day. Although, the boys are dressed!

I think these days of rest are necessary one in awhile. Honestly, I don't remember the last time we've just stayed home all day and it feels really, really nice.

We're going to be taking Christmas pictures next week. I'm horrible at Christmas cards, but this year I'm determined to get them out before Christmas. It might not include our professional picture (although, I'm really hoping it does!), but I WILL get them out? Are you interested in swapping cards? Email me at morganf7(at)yahoo(dot)come.

NaBloPoMo Completed!

So, I successfully completed 30 days in a row of blogging. I've found that I'm not an everyday blogger type. I like to post things that are somewhat meaningful and interesting and that's difficult to do everyday. Am I glad I did it? Yes. Will I do it again next year? Ask me again in a year.

I meant to do this during Nablopomo, but completely forgot. So, I'll do it now. I thought it would be fun to answer any questions you want to ask me. I've seen other people do this on their blogs and it was fun to read their answers. I've also wanted certain bloggers to do it because I would love to ask them questions about their lives.

So, go ahead people. Ask away.