Potty and Progress

So Tristan is officially done with diapers for good. Like FOR GOOD. He doesn't use them at all. He is in underroos all day and even at night. He is doing so incredibily well. He stays dry at night (except for a couple of nights but that's okay) and doesn't really have accidents. We have gone out and about he uses the bathroom wherever we are at. I am so impressed. I remember when I found out I was having a boy I panicked. I had no clue how to potty train a boy. I don't have that sort of equipment. But it was easy shmeesy. I hope Aiden is just as easy. If not, fine. If so, score for Mommy again.

It really only took Tristan about half a day and he was done, training accomplished. He only had two accidents and then he knew how to tell if he had to go. He was so ready for this. He kept saying he wanted big boy underroos and that he wanted to use the big potty. That was perfect. I had no question about if he was ready. He was.

Aiden starting walking the same weekend. Like truly walking. He was all over the house on just his feet. I cried with happiness and sadness. He doesn't look like a baby anymore when he is walking. He is in a big boy car seat now also. Boo-hoo yet Yay at the same time. He looks sooooooooo big now. Handsome just like his Daddy. I got my first comment the other day about Aiden looking like me. That is the FIRST time someone said he looks like me and he is 13 months old. I almost wanted to hug the lady. And kiss her too. I didn't though. I wanted to but I didn't. I don't quite see it but whatever. To that lady who said that, THANK YOU!!

Also on Sunday Aiden lasted half of the service in the nursery/weepoint. That is progress. Most times I am called back within about 15 minutes. So making it for 30 to 40 minutes is major progress. I am thankful for Emily Hazlewood. She was so nice to Aiden and patient with him. She did all she could and for that I am thankful. Sometimes people won't deal with crying for long and give up. She tried and again I am thankful. I am thankful for the Weepoint volunteers. They try with him. Time will heal his anxiety. I know it will. Until then, I will make the best of it. I do however LOVE the first Sunday of the month. The volunteers in Weepoint know Aiden well and usually know how to calm him and I can sit in the service the whole time. For that, THANK YOU Ashley, James, Tracy and Stephen. Love you all.

PT

So today I started potty training with Tristan. OMG...I could not have asked for a better child or first day of potty training. He did soooooooooooooo good. Seriously, sooooooooooooo good. He only had about four accidents all day and even poo'd in the potty..twice. I am so very proud of him. I prayed for patience and kindness towards Tristan. We made a great team today. Me and Tristan. Julian took Aiden today so I could give Tristan all my attention. I am going to pray for the same stuff tomorrow and see how it goes. Whatever may happen I am not going to forget how well he did today. God gave me the best child EVER.

Sweet or Insane?

It's 10:30 pm on a Friday night and I just got done cooking THREE, yes three, meals. This weekend I am going to attempt potty training Tristan and I wanted to make sure that we had good meals cooked and ready to be heated for us to eat. I do not want us going to get some crap food from some crap place. I cooked tonight's meal and then two casserole dishes for the weekend.

I made Taco Soup for tonight. I then did Chicken Spaghetti. That one was easy. I sort of cheated a bit to save time but still. It was easy and only took about 40 minutes to make. Then I made lasagna. That was insane. I didn't know that it would take me that long to fix it. It looks delicious though. It is sitting in the fridge waiting for tomorrow night to come so it can be eaten.

I also want to point out that I had company come over for dinner tonight also. So on top of playing hostess, I made these. I am super impressed with myself.

Now, the downside to cooking such great food every day? I didn't lose any weight this week and probably gained a pound or so. Normally I do good restraining but this week I didn't. My food looked so flippin good I couldn't hold back. I don't regret it.

Oh yeah, I also baked a chocolate sheet cake from scratch today. YUM.

Little Miss Betty Crocker

Lately I have been on this kick of trying to cook as many things as I can from scratch. Ever since I got food poisoning from McDonalds, I have tried to stay away from fast food chains. I will NEVER take my kids there again (they got food poisoning also). It really made me realize a few things.

1) I have no clue who is preparing the food I am giving my family or myself. I don't know if they are following the guidelines. I don't know if they aren't putting boogies or snot or sneezing or coughing in our food. At fast food joints the person fixing our food, which is supposed to fuel our bodies to work properly and help our children grow strong, is probably some teenager who only wants a paycheck so they can blow it on whatever it is they fancy. They don't care about the fact that actual people EAT that food and if they don't handle it correctly then THEY are the ones making others sick. My children and I got super sick because someone else didn't handle our food properly.

2) I have no clue WHAT I am eating actually. I don't know what they use to cook the food in. Or what else they put on it. Or where it was bought at. I want to make sure we are getting the best I can offer. I can offer my children food from a fast food place or I can make them something from my own kitchen that I know is good for them.

3) It is much more expensive to go out to eat. I am far from rich and would much rather spend our money on other stuff. I would rather build memories of cooking in the kitchen with my boys (spending money on groceries rather than fast food is that point).

4) I want my boys to look back at their childhood knowing that Mommy is the one who fed them. Not restaurants, not other people, but their loving Mother. I want them to say "my Mom makes the best .... (fill in the blank) when someone asks what their favorite dish is. I want them to want their wife to cook at home like their momma did. I know this one is selfish but this is how I feel. My blog, my feelings.

So with those feelings I now possess, I am cooking all my meals without prepackaged help (as much as I can) and trying not to go out to eat all that often. I am loving it. It is so much fun learning all the different foods and ways to cook things. And baking is so different than cooking. Baking is all about being exact with your ingredients and cooking is all about "feeling" what's right. Cooking is more generous with mistakes and baking is not forgiving at all. But I still like it.

Julian is LOVING it. He always says such sweet, encouraging words about my cooking. He is very supportive. He also eats everything...even if it is gross. My husband...I love him.

So that is why I am cooking all the time now. That's the reason behind it and I am very excited to continue this journey of learning and feeding my loved ones. I can't think of a better way of showing how much I love them than providing them energy and fuel for their precious bodies to grow. I am keeping my family as healthy as I can because I want them around me all the rest of my days.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. It was such a great day. It started on Saturday, well really last Sunday I suppose. Julian got me a KitchenAid stand mixer for Mother's Day. I spent all week making and baking things. It was so flippin awesome. I made homemade bread for the first time and holy cow it is good. It was so much easier than what I thought also. I was nervous about the yeast. I had no clue how to use it, take care of it, keep it alive (what the?) and cook it. It was quite easy though. You just follow directions and voila. That's it. It was a great week and an even greater weekend.

I got to have both my boys love on me all day. Tristan kept telling me he loved me and "happy mother's day". It melted my heart each time he said it. Aiden brought me a present on his little arm. I don't know how Julian managed that one but I am sure glad he did. It was the cutest thing ever. I made my mom a blueberry crumb cake for Mother's Day. She said she liked it so I consider that a success. I made it with my new Mother's Day present.

I love my husband and family. I am blessed.

What's going on

I can't believe Aiden is one. Tristan is four months shy of his third birthday. Gosh, where did the time go?

We put our house on the market. We have had a few showings but not many. However, considering we live WAY back in Roman Forest and New Caney isn't all that populated or popular I think a few showings is pretty good. There is one couple who wants to come back for a second showing. I am trying not to think about it all that much. I am happy here and would be happy somewhere else also. We LOVE our house, just wish we had cable and were closer to entertainment options. It is a 30 minute drive no matter where we go. That isn't the funnest with two little ones and naps to be had.

Tristan is doing great. He is going to start MDO in the fall. He is so excited about that. He wants to play with kids his age. Aiden is fun but just not there at his level. His teeth are doing good. I went to the dentist yesterday and they said all looks good. I was praying about this appointment all month. My poor baby. I did NOT want him to go through any more pain to "fix" his teeth. He did fantastic. He really did. He did so good that I went to Target right after and bought him "Toby" (from Thomas the Engine) because we lost his other twenty dollar Toby. This one only cost me $6 though. I wasn't paying another $20. He swears it's at Abigail's house but I don't know about that. Abigail has her own Thomas stuff so he might be thinking her's is really his but it actually her's. Follow that? Ha.

Aiden is terrific. He is still going through separation anxiety but it is slowly getting better. He is at least reaching out for other people now and he even went to one of my friends that Aiden hasn't even met. I was shocked. SHOCKED. A good shocked,but still shocked. He is teething like mad. He has almost all his teeth already. Molars and everything. They all came in at once and that was not fun to deal with. But now it is all done and over with. He is still not saying "Momma" and prefers to grunt or yell for stuff he wants. He points and grunts. It is kind of funny yet annoying at the same time. He isn't walking just yet but he crawls super fast to wherever he wants to be. He loves trains (courtesy of Tristan) and is pure boy. He is exactly like his Daddy in behaviour and looks. He loves Tristan and wakes up asking for him. I love it.

That is pretty much all that is going on with us. Hope you (whoever you are that might be reading this) are doing good also.