family

the lazy days of summer

Melissa 7 Comments

…are a myth. Its practically August and I swear we’ve barely stopped moving for weeks.

I survived last week’s VBS. During a heat wave. (Is there some kind of rule that VBS week has to be at least 100 degrees every day? Cause I swear it happens every year.)  I was so exhausted by Friday that I could barely lift my arms. It was totally worth it – the kids had such a blast!! I did crafts and decorations, which gave me free reign at Michaels. This is dangerous.
**sidebar: I will not be featuring my killer outfit you see there in What I Wore Wednesday. For obvious reasons.

We’ve been playing with friends, hitting the pool, enjoying fresh veggies and fruit from the Farmers Market, blueberry picking, trying not to melt, plowing through summer reading, and getting ready for vacation.

I’ve been swamped with my job and some extra freelance design work, which is half fun, half crazy with the kids at home.

Today I get to clean the house. Because nothing shows that you’re having a busy summer like a disaster of a house!!!

 

 

movie star moment

Melissa 6 Comments

Last night we went to the world premiere of Smurfs in New York City. We had a blast picking out the perfect outfits and getting red carpet ready with Suave Kids!

It was incredible.

Lets just say I found myself waiting in like at the bathroom behind Sofia Vergara and as we were chatting… Brooke Shields walked by. We saw so many celebs – I was having a blast! I kept saying things like “Look! Its Neil Patrick Harris!” and the girls would say “Who?” But there was one name they recognized.  “Look! Its Katy Perry!” And the girls SHOT out of their seats “WHERE? WHERE IS SHE?? AHHH!! KATY PERRY!!” And after the show, the girls got to meet the singer of their favorite song (who was sweetness itself, by the way). Which we have an extremely blurry cell phone picture of:

I can’t share it all the red carpet footage just yet… but here’s a preview snapshot of the girls getting interviewed about their favorite Smurfs!

More to come 🙂 I can’t wait to share it all with you!!!

every child must have at least one epic potty fail

Melissa 15 Comments

I should have seen it coming.

Colin has been doing so well potty training. SO WELL. He’s had virtually no accidents. I haven’t even had to remind him to go – he’s been doing it totally on his own. Our only hurdle we have left is that he isn’t a fan of the big potty. But he’s been a potty superstar all week!

But this morning. OH, THIS MORNING. Hang on. I need to gather my courage to tell you this story.

We were at Vacation Bible School doing a craft. Colin suddenly announced, “I have to go potty. I go myself.” Well, I was smart enough to know that wasn’t a good idea. I am a mom, after all.  I followed him to the bathroom, but he ran ahead of me and locked himself in the stall. I was left outside trying to break into the stall and help him on the potty.

Then I heard crying.

Then he opened the door.

Oh. My. Word.

Poop. Not just a bit of poop. A freaking huge pile of poop on the floor. I honestly have no idea how all of that was contained in his tiny body. And Colin was staying right in the middle of it. With his shoes on. With his shorts and underpants in it. (Did I mention it was during VBS? So it wasn’t our floor that was covered in poop, but a totally innocent floor that had done nothing wrong?)

My mouth just fell open. This was one of the few times in my life I have been truly speechless.

About 200 Anti-Bacterial Wet Ones later, Colin was back in VBS wearing no shoes and no pants, since I had forgotten to bring extra shorts and I certainly didn’t anticipate an extra pair of shoes. And he stayed that way for the rest of the morning.  (A few people asked me, “Why isn’t Colin wearing shoes?” And I was like, “DON’T ASK!)

Now, after a load of laundry and having to use a freaking HOSE to clean his shoes off, we are recovering. Slowly.

 

 

potty training: 90% complete!

Melissa

Its been an EXHAUSTING week, to say the very least. I came so, so close to dragging the diapers back out.

Tuesday and Wednesday he was crying and screaming that he “hated that potty.” He claimed underpants and Pull-Ups were “hurty” and he begged for diapers back. I couldn’t turn my back on him for a second.
Colin does not adjust to change well.
But I did not cave. I was determined not to go back to diapers. When I was close to caving, my friends who were living the horror via Twitter and Skype were encouraging me to stick with it, not to give up, offering to deliver margaritas to my door.

And I am super happy to say that Colin has been virtually accident free since Thursday! He’s having trouble at night still but I am so so proud of my boy.

I’m a little worried about this week, because we have VBS and he’ll be so distracted. Hopefully it won’t mess things up too badly.

Speaking of VBS, if you don’t hear from me, it means the kids won and I’m probably glued to the wall of the church with glitter glue or in a prison made of popsicle sticks. Or I’m hiding under my bed, afraid to go back into the craft room….

in the trenches of potty training

Melissa 7 Comments

On Tuesday, we declared “No More Diapers” for Colin.

We use the BabyBjorn Smart Potty - LOVE.

Tuesday was rough.

Wednesday was rougher.

I hate potty training. There are few things in life that I hate more than potty training. It is one of the few things that can bring me to tears. Not a single-tear-running-down-my-cheek tears. I mean sobbing-on-the-floor-of-the-hallway-in-frustration tears. (that was yesterday around 11am, by the way, after our fourth accident in a row.)

Today I’m feeling more confident that this might actually eventually work. Despite Colin now declaring he “hates the potty,” he now says he’s not going to have any more accidents because he doesn’t like accidents. So that’s good. He just isn’t understanding the sensation that he has to go. I can ask him, “Do you have to go potty?” And he’ll say “No” then have an accident one minute later. He’s not avoiding the potty, I really just think he doesn’t understand what ‘needing to go potty’ feels like.

I’m just exhausted. I’ve spent 3 days now asking every 2 seconds “Are you dry? Do you have to go potty?”  Colin has eaten his weight in Starburst (his reward of choice) and been chugging juice boxes (to encourage pottying). Mommy, on the other hand, has been drinking a little more wine than usual with dinner 🙂

There’s a light at the end of this tunnel, right?

keeping close across the miles

Melissa

Our family is very close – but far. Almost all of our family lives in other states and several live in different countries. The Internet has totally revolutionized our relationships. My husband grew up living overseas, far away from family. He grew up writing letters to his grandmothers. Phone calls were very rare, as they cost several dollars per minute. Even now, the majority of our communication with his parents, who still live overseas, is via email.

Just yesterday, I was chatting with my cousin who is deployed – how amazing is that? I remember my husband’s grandmother talking about how it took weeks to get letters to her husband during the war… Can you even imagine? Now it seems like the world is just a bit smaller, we’re all just a bit closer, even when we’re far apart.  We especially appreciated email when my brother-in-law was deployed, as we were able to stay in touch easily. We didn’t hear from him too often (since he obviously had to write to his wife and mom first ;-), but through email, we were able to share our lives here and see a glimpse of what he was going through.

I will never, ever forget when we opened up our emails and found this picture:


How hilarious is that? I believe his email said something like, “You just can’t make this stuff up.”

It continually amazes me that – through email – I can see the ultrasound of my pregnant cousin in England, chat with friends in Malaysia, send pictures of the grandkids to my in-laws in India, and discuss important decisions like shoes with my sisters… all virtually instantly on my computer.  Its truly miraculous. And it makes our living so far from family just a little easier to bear.

 

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

to the beach

Melissa

This week we’re headed to Ocean City for a week at the beach. So excited to lay in the sand, play with the kids, sleep late, drink coffee out on the porch listening to the ocean, walking along the boardwalk, indulging in boardwalk food…

Love.

But, alas, we will have no internet at the beach. So enjoy some pictures, some oldies and be sure to check out my fashion blog,  All Things Chic while I’m gone!

 

xoxo