Sweet.

Smiling at her big brother while he feeds her sweet potatoes and bananas.

(A "wish-I-could-freeze-time" kind of moment.)

Cheddar Bunnies Get a Free Pass.

I received an email from someone asking me about the weight loss deal and how everything was going. Thank you for asking!

It's going well.

I've passed my short-term goal, but I'm not jumping for joy until March 11th. I almost think that losing weight is the easier part--it's the keeping if off that's really tough. For me, anyway. So, I'm happy with the progress, but doing my best to keep my eyes on the prize: Maintaining where I want to be. I constantly envision my life one year from the current day. What will my life look like? I want my weight loss tactics to blend seamlessly with our daily lives--it can't be anything that requires too much extra work or expense, because it simply won't stick. I've learned!

My guidelines are pretty simple:

1) The rules only apply when we are under our own roof or are in control of our choices

2) If I wouldn't feed it to the kids, then I don't eat it

-Nothing advertised as "low fat", "non fat" or "sugar free" (only whole milk, whole fat yogurt, etc.--if they're cutting something out, they're typically replacing it with something else)

-As few packaged things and as many whole foods as realistically possible for our lifestyle

3) Realistic expectations

-There will always be instances where the rules are broken (i.e.--blizzards, church potlucks, etc.) and that's when portion control comes into play. I won't turn down comfort food on a snowy day!

4) Splurge meal

-Once a week, I get to eat whatever I want for one meal. Appetizer, entree, dessert. So far my splurge meals have included items such as a bacon cheeseburger, chili fries, ice cream, onion rings, and cheesecake. Yum. It's nice to go out with friends and dig into a yummy dessert, guilt-free.

5) Exercise

-It's just gotta happen. I do Zumba once a week and some weight training throughout the week. The double stroller is staring at me in the garage, begging for some use, and I can't wait until the weather warms up so I can push the kiddos around on our route.

There you have it! I will keep you updated when I reach my first goal date. But, thanks for checking in on me. It helps to keep me motivated!

Have a lovely day.

Love. {Oklahoma Blizzard Edition}

:frozen pond ... he was braver than I:

Potty Dance: Backwards?

On Sunday morning, I decided to be brave and put Cub in big boy underwear. I was a little scared, but didn't want to keep going back and forth between diaper/underwear/diaper/underwear. So, I put him in his Thomas undies and scooted him to Sunday School, forewarning his (very amazing) teacher.

I didn't get a chance to check on him between Sunday School and the service, so my first time to see him was a few hours later. I peeked in his room and saw that he was wearing his same pair of pants. Yay! No accidents! I asked his teacher how he did and she said, "Great!" followed by ... "He never went!"

EEK.

She took him several times, but he never went. I appreciated her tenacity and told her I'd give it a try. I took him to the kiddy bathroom and discovered there was a normal toilet in there. No wonder he was a tad shy ... he hadn't ever used a "big potty" before. I stripped him down and then remembered someone telling me something about sitting boys backwards on the toilet when they are first starting to train. So, I sat him up there backwards, with his legs resting on the toilet seat as though he were sitting on the floor. And, sure enough, BAM! That boy had been holding it in! I couldn't believe it--his first time to go in the big potty!

Backwards. Huh.

Then we went out to lunch and he had success with a big potty again, backwards, and no accidents. I'm guessing that backwards is comfortable because they are able to sit normally without having to straddle the potty (and for boys, it keeps the stream from shooting across the room).

That was Sunday, and our little man hasn't looked back.

We turned him around to face frontwards yesterday to straddle the potty and he did great. So, backwards isn't necessary anymore. But, it sure was handy in making him feel comfortable on the big potty! And, it prevented us from having to carry around a small padded seat for him. Now he's fine going forwards.

We haven't had an accident since Saturday and I'm going to go ahead and put it out there: I think our boy is potty trained, with going Number One. Now. By "potty trained", I don't mean that he suddenly declares, "I need to go potty!" and then walks to the bathroom, shuts the door, does his business, and comes back out! That independence will come later. He still needs a lot of help. We still take him about every hour and help him with his britches and such. But, he holds it until we go, and we've had success every time.

Now, for Number Two ... he's still sneaky. It primarily happens during nap time. I'm not too worried because I know it will just come with time. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But (if he doesn't go Number Two), he stays dry during naps and all night, so I know he's learning.

Phew! In some ways, this hasn't been as hard as I thought, and yet it was still exhausting, so it did take a lot of work.

I'll let you know how the rest of it goes (ha, ha) when the time comes.

Time to get back to hanging out with the family in this crazy winter wonderland!

Have a lovely day.

EDIT: Y'all. As soon as I pushed the "Publish Post" button, Cub had an accident. HA! How's that for the Law of Parental Blogging? As soon as you say one thing, the child does another. So, no more posts about potty training!!

Cooped Up and Stuffed.

I opened my front door this morning and discovered a snow drift that was almost up to my chest. The wind is howling outside, creating spontaneous white-out conditions, which I find to be just a tad unnerving.

This snow storm is probably the biggest one I've witnessed since living in Oklahoma. Treacherous ice is typically our forte, so seeing blizzard warnings is honestly a tad bizarre. It isn't so much the snowfall, it's the WIND. The snow doesn't even have a chance to fall before it gets pushed all over the place by the heaving gusts. My family is from New England, so I know they are used to these kinds of storms, but here in the southern Midwest, it's a little scary!

So, thankfully, my husband is home from work and the kiddos are tucked in bed and the electricity is still on. Which means: Time to COOK!

My Menu for this storm includes:

Homemade chicken and noodle soup (I'm making my own chicken stock for the first time and it smells heavenly!), chili in a bread bowl, and white chicken chili. When I think cold, I think crock-pot. Of course, I had to make sure that my menu was also stovetop-compatable, in case we lose power (we have a gas range). I'm also planning big breakfasts (sausage, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, eggs, pancakes, etc.) and lazy lunches like toasted pita bread stuffed with banana, honey, and peanut butter. I guess I really want my family to be WARM, and this food all says WARM to me! Ooo, and a good cup of hot coco or coffee. Yum.

So, friends, what does your menu look like when you look out the windows and see white? Or, if you see white all the time during the winter months, what are your favorite comfort foods?

Have a lovely day!