Life Is Fantasmic

Friday, October 4, 2013

MOPS: Advice from experienced moms

Yesterday at MOPS we had a mentor mom panel.

We got to learn more about 6 wonderful ladies that have been there & done that with the whole parenting thing.

They answered a bunch of anonymous questions that we had come up with ahead of time.

Most questions were about parenting or marital issues,

they touched a bit on how to deal with difficult in-laws,

and how to cope when you're super stressed & your family lives far away...

Although I didn't think to write the questions down
(and I wish I would have),

I took notes on the advice that I found most helpful or profound.

Here's what I learned from the pros:

Pray often.
Pray for your husband.
Pray for your children.
Pray for their future & for their future husbands.

Stop worrying about cleaning your house today & just play.
You'll truly regret it if you don't.

Don't beat yourself up about things you didn't do this week,
there's always next week.

Write yourself encouraging notes.

Encourage other moms.

When you feel like your husband isn't spending enough time with you or your family
ask him, 'What memories do you want our kids to have about their Dad?'
'What memories do you want me to have about us 10, 20, or 50 years from now?'

Ask these things or address issues when things are going well & you are at your best
rather than when you are upset or frustrated.

Make a gratitude list.
Write about things you are thankful for that relate to your husband
and the work he does for you & your family.

Child swap with other moms for relief

Put God first.
Put your marriage second.
Find time for dates & intimacy.
Keep that spark alive.

Show your children that you love your husband.
Don't be afraid to hug, kiss, & hold hands in public.
Keep it PG though...

The only control you truly have is over yourself.
You have complete control over the way you live your life
and the way you handle things you're faced with.
Whether it be a day-to-day or life changing situation
be a good example
& although you can't control your family or others you associate with,
you can influence them for the better.

There is power in using the words "You're right."
If you seem to be having disagreements with your spouse or in-laws,
find something that they're right about,
and use those words to let them know you agree.

Try to look at things through your in-law's eyes if you don't really get along.
They were raised differently than you & have a reason for their differing opinions on things.
If you want to raise your children differently than they raised theirs, that's okay.
You married their son & already know that they raised a winner,
but it's ultimately up to you and your spouse to choose how you raise your family.

Create networks in your community for support, especially if you don't have family nearby.
There are always plenty of experienced moms that would love to "adopt" you & help you out.

So those were the highlights of advice that the mentor moms gave yesterday at MOPS...
Hopefully you can apply that wonderful advice to your life
or pass it along to other moms that may need it!

I think I might make MOPS highlights a regular thing here on the blog.
Whatcha think?

xoxo

Thursday, October 3, 2013

MOPS

When we moved,

we were blessed to move to a wonderful neighborhood with wonderful neighbors.

Seriously... Everyone I have met here has been super friendly.

When talking with my next door neighbor/friend one day,

she asked me if I had ever been in a MOPS group.

photo credit: MOPS.org

I had never even heard of it.

She explained that MOPS stands for 'mothers of preschoolers'.

Twice a month, we meet at a local church for a couple hours.
What happens next is 100% awesome.
You drop the kidlets (MOPPETS) off in age appropriate rooms (yes, infants too)
where they get to play with other kids their age under the supervision of well-trusted volunteers.
Then you get to enjoy the company of other mothers & mentor-moms
while eating a warm homemade breakfast without worrying about...
your kids eating off your plate
while you change a stinky diaper,
refill sippy cups,
give the kids seconds since they're still hungry,
& finally get to take your first (cold/soggy) bite 30 minutes later.
Seriously though...
MOPS mornings are the best breakfasts I've had in a looong time!

So from what I've gathered my first two times going...
you enjoy your breakfast & socialize a bit,
then there's an amazing speaker,
you break off into discussion groups
(smaller groups within MOPS that you're assigned to),
& sometimes there's a craft.
It's a jam packed, yet relaxing two hours without the kidlets.
Because even though you love them,
it's important to have mommy time with other moms.

We also have occasional playdates throughout the month.
Some that anyone from MOPS can go to,
& others that are just with the smaller discussion groups.

Being new to the area,
it has been a great way for me to make new friends outside of church
& get to know other wonderful ladies that I otherwise wouldn't have met.
It's nice knowing that if I'm having any parenting questions or frustrations,
these local ladies are right by my side to help me get through it.
I know that my church family will always be there for me too,
but that just means I have twice as many people to turn to when I need a break or moms night!

xoxo

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Potty training

Little Dudeman has been on a potty training kick ~~lately~~ again.
I'm hoping it's for real this time.

He was showing a lot of interest around 18 months,
but he was still in size 2 diapers at the time
& wearing 9-12 month pants.
There was no way that he would be able to wear 2T underwear.
So I ordered some 18 month training underwear from Amazon.
He was swimming in them.
They were absolutely ginormous.
We couldn't even buy pull-ups or the slip-on diapers
because they don't make them in size 2.
Lovely.
So we did what we could with regular diapers.
It didn't last long before his interest died & he wanted nothing to do with it again.
He wanted to try again right around the time Little Princess was born.
Great timing?
Not so much.
We tried, but with a newborn it just wasn't happening.
Then he lost interest and wanted nothing to do with it for a while.
And so the story goes...
That cycle happened a few more times
with each time slightly more successful than the last,
but nothing worked long-term.

In the past, we've tried:
jumping right into underwear
setting a timer every 15-20 minutes,
giving him "potty juice" (juice or CapriSun) just for trying
(to fill his bladder so that he will want to go more frequently & get more practice),
giving him 2 gummy fruit snacks every successful potty break,
a sticker chart
(1 sticker for #1 & 2 stickers for #2),
a potty toy
(he only gets to play with it if he stays dry between potty breaks),
potty pennies
(one penny in the piggy bank every time he successfully goes potty: 1 for #1, 2 for #2; max 10 cents per day).

Since he's excited about it again,
I'm doing everything I can to keep him motivated
but I don't want to push him so hard that he doesn't want to keep up with it.
I just found & unpacked his underwear on Monday,
so yesterday we said goodbye to the slip-on diapers yet again.
He wore his underwear without a fuss & stayed dry all day long,
and he went potty every hour and a half-ish.
He had one messy accident.
I still consider it progress.

This time, we're just trying the underwear again.
We're also using a timer...
I first set it at 30 minutes yesterday,
then 45 minutes,
then we tried for an hour long stretch,
and finally worked up to every 90 minutes.
I'm hoping to get to 2 hours today,
unless he says or shows me that he needs to go sooner of course.

We're still putting him in slip-on diapers at night,
but he's been pretty good at staying dry as long as he goes potty right before bed.
I don't know how soon we'll be brave enough to let him wear underwear at night though,
since we still co-sleep with both of our kids right now.
His bed isn't even put together from our move yet.
So as long as he's in bed with us,
he'll probably be wearing the slip-ons at night...

Little Princess went potty in the toilet three times her first day of trying.

She was only 13 ½ months old at the time.
Now at 18 months, she is constantly pulling her diaper down
and wants to go every time Little Dudeman tries.
It's annoying, yet wonderful!
We haven't started her on underwear yet,
but we'll see how she does...

xoxo

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

31 days - 31 posts

I am terrible at posting regularly.

I tend to only post things when my thoughts are complete (for the most part)

which means that some of my posts end up quite lengthy,

& some are never posted.

I want to remedy that.

My goal is to update my blog at least 3 times a week.

People say that if you do something consistently for 30 days it becomes a habit, right?

I don't really want to feel obligated to post every day,

but if posting every day for a month will increase the likelihood of me attaining that goal,

I'm all for trying it.

I found out about this challenge because a couple of my favorite bloggers are doing it.

Over the next 31 days...

Kimmie from Sugar and Dots is blogging about her quest for the perfect life,

Rachelle from Fingerprints on the Fridge will be posting one project each day,

& although I won't be blogging about any topic inparticular,

I will be actually posting actual posts every day

instead of just a few times a month!

Or at least that's the plan...

We'll see how it goes.

Here's for day 1?

I'll be linking this post up over at The Nester where a bazillion other bloggers are attempting this challenge.

Let me know if you're trying a 31 day challenge this month so we can keep each other motivated (:

Wish me luck!
xoxo

Alright, alright...
You caught me.
I wasn't able to do it for 31 days straight.
From Day 10 on I've had a lot going on to prevent that.
I will definitely try this again sometime though!

Day 1: I'm totally counting this post.

Day 2: Potty Training - Trials & Triumphs

Day 3: MOPS
Day 4: MOPS: Advice from experienced moms
Day 5: LDS General Conference: Words of Wisdom (Saturday sessions)
Day 6: LDS General Conference: Words of Wisdon (Sunday sessions)
Day 7: Harry Potter Surprise Party (Part 1)
Day 8: Harry Potter Surprise Party (Part 2)
Day 9: Harry Potter Surprise Party (Part 3)
Day 10: No post.
Day 11: Life is fragile.
Day 12: Mommy School Goals (2013-2014)
Day 13: Bittersweet

Friday, September 27, 2013

Liebster Award

While I was out of town a couple weeks ago
for my sister's 18th birthday surprise Harry Potter party
(which I can't wait to tell you about, but you can read her priceless reaction here),
I was nominated for a Liebster Award...
TWICE!

From Pebbles & Piggytails
&
Spindles Designs by Mary & Mags
Thanks guys!

I've been having a lot of migraines lately,
& being in front of the computer really hasn't been helping them
which is why I'm FINALLY getting around to posting this.
Anywho...

The Liebster Award is a blogging award given to you from another blogger
that wants to acknowledge your blog and likes what you share.
It was designed as a way to encourage new or small blogs.
You get to learn more about your fellow bloggers in the process,
& it's just plain fun...

The Rules:
Link back to the person who nominated you.
Share 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
List 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers (as best as you can tell based on their page).
They should be bloggers that you believe deserve some recognition & a little blogging love.
Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominated to answer if they accept the award.
Let those 11 bloggers know that they've been nominated with a link back to your Liebster Award post.

11 random facts about me:

1. I met my husband on MySpace because of an energy drink.
2. I collect pictures of quirky mailboxes.

3. I prefer water instead of milk with sweets & baked goods.

4. I have actually cried over spilled milk.

5. I am petrified of spiders - I literally freeze when I see one. Until it moves towards me. Then I run as fast as I can & have been known to cry hysterically.

6. I am extremely talented at laughing & crying at the same time. You seriously can't tell which I'm doing sometimes.

7. I love to sing & recorded my first cd before we moved.

9. In college, I wanted to major in Music Education with a minor in Theatre.

10. I'm OCD about weird things. Here's a couple examples: When I fill up gas in our car, the change total needs to end in a 0 or a 5 (Ex: $70.60 or $66.95 - It's always better if it's an increment of .25 or right on the dollar, but never something like $68.28, $71.54, or $67.01). When we go out to eat, the total after the tip needs to be rounded to the nearest dollar (bill of $21.52 + 15% tip of $3.23 = $24.75. I would round the tip up to make it $25 even). I'm weird, I know...

11. I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In other words, I'm a Mormon.

22 questions nominating bloggers have created for me (because I was nominated twice):

Lisa from Pebbles & Piggytails asked...

1. What is your dream vacation? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, Bora Bora, & Antarctica (not all in the same trip), but there are plenty of other places I would love to visit as well!

2. Do you believe in miracles & why or why not? Absolutely! "Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible." - Mary McLeod Bethune

3. Cats or dogs? Dogs

4. Why do you blog? I wanted to be able to earn a little extra money from home, update family & friends on our life, get back into journaling, make new friends, share my favorite recipes, & motivate myself to be more organized.

5. What's your favorite kind of social media (FB, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc)? That's a tough one. I like each of them for different reasons. I'm probably on FB the most although I don't update it very often. I check Google+ the second most, but only to check my Dad's feed... He posts all sorts of inspirational quotes, intellectual facts, cool videos, & breathtaking photos on there that he doesn't share on FB. Pinterest would be next. It's crazy how easy it is to get sidetracked on there. I love checking Instagram periodically (weekly maybe) to see what pictures my friends have posted recently, but I don't check it daily. Twitter is probably my least favorite but I do check it from time to time.

6. Are you an outdoors person or a home-body? Haha... Is it possible to be both? I love being outdoors, but I enjoy chillaxin' at home too.

7. Where do you hope to be in 10 years? I hope to be a better version of myself. It doesn't really matter where as long as I'm with family. (:

8. What's your favorite thing about your mom? I love that I can talk to my mom or my ~~step~~mom about anything. They're both wonderful & I love them dearly.

9. What is THE food you couldn't live without? Cheese. I love cheese. (Although I couldn't stand it when I was pregnant with Little Princess...)

10. When is the last time you went on a date with your spouse or significant other? Earlier this month for our September anniversary (we celebrate two) - we ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant called Cebollas, then went to a drive-in theater to watch Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters & Despicable Me 2. The time before that was our Valentine's date when we saw Warm Bodies.

11. What's your favorite way to spend time with your family? I love going on trips together (big vacations, weekend trips, or day trips) because so many great memories are made, but hanging out at home together is wonderful & relaxing too...

Mags from Spindles Designs asked...

1. Why do you blog? I wanted to be able to earn a little extra money from home, update family & friends on our life, get back into journaling, make new friends, share my favorite recipes, & motivate myself to be more organized.

2. What is your favorite day of the week? It's a toss-up between Saturday & Sunday. I like both because weekends are when we get to spend the most time together as a family. Saturdays because we can do plenty of fun things together, & Sundays because I can be spiritually uplifted from church.

3. What is your favorite food to make? That's a tough one because it really depends on what mood I'm in... Poppyseed Chicken tends to be one of my go-to meals, but anything in the crockpot is great because of the easy prep & easy clean-up.

4. What is your least favorite holiday? Labor Day - because that's when majority of the swimming pools close.

5. What is posted up on your fridge right now? My magnetic whiteboard to-do list, meal ideas, & a Colts football schedule magnet that we got in the mail. We just moved & haven't unpacked our magnets yet, so the outside of our fridge looks pretty bare.

6. How often are you on Pinterest? I pin things with the internet widget or on my phone whenever I come across something worth pinning, so I rarely get on Pinterest itself. It's a really good thing too because when I get on the actual site, I tend to get sidetracked easily.

7. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? I love all kids of ice cream, frozen custard, & fro-yo, but Coldstone's cheesecake ice cream with raspberries & Heath bar is probably my fave.

8. What is your dream vacation? I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, Bora Bora, & Antarctica (not all in the same trip), but there are plenty of other places I would love to visit as well!

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A better mommy, wife, daughter, friend, etc - basically a better version of me...

10. What is your craft specialty? I'm not really sure that I have a specialty so-to-speak because I enjoy all kinds of crafts. I don't feel like I'm that great at any of them in particular, but I enjoy making creative muffin tin meals for my kidlets if that counts. You can check them out in an album-book on Facebook or in my post directory here.

11.What is your favorite quilt pattern & have you ever made it? I love this ombre denim quilt - it looks fairly simple but I haven't mustered up enough courage (or time) to attempt quilting yet. I also think that it would look really cool with some ocean wave-like stitching similar to the stitching found here, but that's waaay too advanced for me!

11 bloggers that I am nominating for the award:
McCall @ Dusty With Starlight
Kayla @ Kaye's Cupboard
Arrienne @ Ribbon Runner
yogamama @ Toddling in the Fast Lane
Koogle @ Koogle's Korner
Amanda @ Food, Family, Fun
Sarah @ Blame it on the Bento
Christina @ Raisins and Goldfish
Momma J @ This Little Blog of Mine
Alex @ Teach Through Play
Leah @ The Dog's a Boy Too

1. Why do you blog?
2. What is your favorite animal?
3. What is your favorite musical?
4. What is your favorite main dish?
5. What is your favorite dessert?
6. What is your favorite vacation spot?
7. Where would you love to travel to someday?
8. Who is your favorite Disney character?
9. What is your favorite movie?
10. Which season do you enjoy the most?
11. Do you know the muffin man?

xoxo

Monday, September 9, 2013

UP Birthday

So I found this half-written post of mine that I had started before we moved...
Rather than re-write it, I'm going to just post it as-is.
Simply because I can.
& also because I giggled a little when I read through it just now.

I've had so much going on with the move that I've really been slacking on my blog.

But that is a-o-kay with me...

I honestly don't want to have to stress about catching up on here in addition to the other million things that need to get done.

But I will still write a little here and there.

I will publish my posts once my thoughts are actually complete.

I am entitled to a break from packing every now and then right?

Good, because I am burnt out with this whole packing/moving thing & want it to be done already!

So we had a Cars party for Little Dudeman's birthday a while back

and the following weekend we had an UP themed birthday party for Hubby's 30th...

Ya know...

Since he's growing "Up".

I'm punny.

He really wanted to avoid his 30th birthday altogether, but I told him that it was inevitable.

Sooner or later he would have to face the fact that we all get older, and that it's not such a terrible thing.

It just allows for different phases of our life to happen.

For example, take Carl in the movie UP...

We get to watch him & Ellie grow old together,

and that's a beautiful thing.

We get to see how life can be an adventure,

and that we create new adventures throughout each phase of our life.

Hubby recently decided he wants to learn how to fly...

So for part of his birthday present,

I told him that he can start flying lessons after we move

so that he can get his pilot license.

What an awesome new adventure now that he's 30 right?

We had a busy, yet fun-filled weekend.
I spent all day Friday making 'balloon' cake pops
& filling up balloons with helium.

After work, he was greeted with this Spirit of Adventure balloon attached to a stick.
I forgot to take a picture of it flying solo,
but at least I remembered to take a picture at some point.

He saw the rest of them when he got into the kitchen...

You see, I had sent a facebook message to family & friends asking them to write messages on the balloons and then mail them to me.
I'd say I got a pretty good response (:

81 balloons.
Only 2 partial losses.
One flew away (to the ceiling).
One casualty while I was filling it with helium.
(which I laid next to the house so he could read the message)
We had pizza for dinner, then watched Up.

Saturday morning I gave him a Wilderness Explorer pin badge and told him,
"The wilderness must be explored! Caw, caw, RAWR!"
I informed him that we had some badges to earn...
I was going to make sashes & everything, but time got the better of me with the move.
Ah well.
First, we went to the park and had a picnic lunch in 110+ degree weather.
It. was. hot.
The kids wanted to play at the playground, so we spent quite a bit of time there.

We looked at the clouds and tried to make shapes out of them.
We didn't see any turtles, flying elephants, or babies,
but we did see some pretty cool clouds.
To be honest, I don't remember what shapes we saw.
I guess that's what I get for finishing this post almost 4 months after the party...

After the park, we visited the Palm Springs Air Museum.
It was pretty cool since we had never been there before.

Hubby even got to try out a flight simulator!
Well, sorta...
They have a super advanced one that he wanted to try,
but they wouldn't let him since he doesn't have his pilots license yet.
Lame.
Instead they let him do a computer game version...

It was pretty similar to the flying app that he's been playing on his phone & the tablet.
Only the lady wouldn't let him do that by himself either...
She was constantly hovering & telling him to do this or that rather than let him just do it.
Her instructions made him stall the plane when he already knew what to do.
Silly lady.
Never underestimate my Hubby (;

The museum was getting ready to close
and we had seen just about everything that we could see,
so we loaded up the car to head to our next stop.

We were going to get ice cream cones,
sit on the corner,
and call out red & blue cars...
But it was waaay too hot.
We decided to just go home and have ice cream there instead.

When we got home I put 3 balloon shaped toothpick candles into one of the balloon cake pops.
Then we sang Happy Birthday so that he could blow out the candles & make a wish...

Cake Pop Flavors:

Red - vanilla cake w/ pink lemonade frosting & red candy melts

Orange - chocolate cake w/ orange frosting & orange sherbet flavored candy melts

Yellow - vanilla cake w/ homemade fruit dip & yellow candy melts

Green - vanilla cake w/ key lime frosting & key lime flavored candy melts

Blue - chocolate cake w/ cream cheese frosting & blue candy melts

Purple - mystery flavors of cake & frosting (basically whatever was left) & red/blue candy melt mixture

After getting stuffed with cake pops & ice cream,
it was time to open presents.
The kids & I got him some UP themed gifts...

Clockwise:

With this baby, you'll NEVER get lost! - Certificate for Black Ops II map packs,

81 balloons with messages from family & friends,

Paradise Falls jar with approximately $65 dollars of change in it,
Caramellos - His favorite chocolate to lure snipes (we all know Kevin loves chocolate),
an Adventure Book with plenty of pictures & memories of his life thus far,
his Wilderness Explorer badge,
and of course,
an Ellie badge...
He earned it.