A Quiet Night. Really.

The kids and I stayed in last night, which is a rare feat. On the way home, Sam asked, "Who's coming over tonight?" When I said no one, you'd have thought he had just lost the national championship.

But as we were sitting at the dinner table, Kate did something funny (who can remember it all!). Sam said, "I sure am glad I decided to have her."

"You are?" I asked.

"Yeah." and then he added some superlative-- she's a good girl or she's funny or something like that.

I just thought it was nice of him to decide to have a baby (ha!) and to mention that he was enjoying her. What a good night!

Fall fun

I think someday it will be fall here. We had a little glimpse of it this week, but I hear the temp is headed up this upcoming weekend. Sunday afternoon was a perfect day-- about 78 degrees outside, sunny, not too windy. You just never know how many Sundays will be like that, so we headed to the park. We had a great time and took a few pics, below:

My big boy on his swing

Scary climbing accomplished!

Look at our big helper! We're so lucky that they enjoy playing together.

Daddy's Girl

Kate's a big girl!

What a big week it's been for Kate. She's potty training now and has been pretty successful in her pretty panties for the last week. Trained by the grace of God and sheer determination by my nearly-two-year-old.

Due to the potty-training, we moved her to a big girl bed too. (That really just means changing crib to toddler bed, but still, it's a big move.) She's done pretty well. She cries when I put her to bed now, but otherwise, has been great. She hasn't figured out to come out, and doesn't tear things off of her shelves or anything (yet). So far, so good.

As if that isn't enough, she got a new, big girl haircut. Since Miss Kate is against having her hair brushed, let alone pulled up or back or heaven-forbid with a barrette, I asked Rebecca to layer the back and not worry about the length. It's really very cute-- makes her eyes look so big. I don't have a good photograph yet, but you can see it in the pictures below.

Where did my baby go?!

BMB: Earned Potty Average

I told my husband last night that I think motherhood stress can be judged by a new statistic: Earned Potty Average. Its a count of the average number of times you go to the potty (there's that word again) in one hour. Use the following scale to determine daily craziness:


Less than 1: Big deal. I mean, my co-worker goes more than that on his own. You either have kids in diapers, which require entirely different statistics, or you've graduated to having potty soloists.

1-2: Average average. Maybe you have a preschooler that needs help wiping or a short daughter that can't reach the paper towels, but you're time committed is minimal. You're on your way to graduation!

2-3: Potty training is in season. You're definitely in there often enough to get to know the full lay of the land. Do you have to sing or read a book? Bonus points for that. You're probably even making a couple of unnecessary trips a day. Maybe a separate ratio should be tallyed for successful to unsuccessful trips. The lower the ratio, the more likely it is that we're eating out for dinner tonight. And don't ask why.

3-4: So sorry. At this level, you either have multiple potty trainers (twins, close-in-age children), or need to consult a doctor about potential bladder problems. I can't even imagine this level of potty trips, much less gather enough patience, encouraging words, or books to make those trips enjoyable. You probably need to consider investing in one of those blow-up portable potty seats a stranger told me about yesterday-- then little joey can go anywhere anytime! (As long as he can hold it long enough for you to blow up the seat, add the liner, and find a hidden place to put it.)

Oh, the drama.