Potty Trained

Bedelia is officially, 100% potty trained! Two weeks ago today, Bedelia woke up and declared, "I am big now, I want to wear big girl pants". I had heard that children each have their own wake up call of sorts giving interest in potty training, but I didn't expect it to be this sudden. We immediately went to the store, bought a little toilet seat cover to ease the fear of falling in, some big girl panties, and pull-ups. And then my little girl was potty trained. We spent the first 2 days of this adventure with her pant less, and had an eyeopening experience when she was sent to time out that first evening of potty training wearing her big girl panties. All of a sudden, the crying stopped and she says "the floor's wet right here." I went over to her and instinctively giggled. She had no idea what "tinkle"was! I mean, she knew she had to have her diapers changed, but I honestly believe she didn't understand it until that moment. I took her to the bathroom and happily explained in two year old terms what had happened, so as not to scare her from the experience. That was a big moment, from that moment we would cheer and dance and run around in circles when she would tell us she had to go tinkle -- and it worked. She got excited about it, and minus one or two minor accidents she hasn't had any accidents, can wear panties all the time and wakes up most mornings with a dry pull-up! I'm amazed with her self control, and with her decisiveness! I imagine that this trait will continue with her throughout her life, as it has manifest itself in speaking, memorizing books, walking, not to mention her impeccable memory when it comes to things that are important to her. Anyway, if you are ever in need of a good smile, let me know and I'll have an excited little girl call to tell you how exciting poop can be!

Digital Scrapbooking

I haven't put up a new post in a while because I've been busy! I discovered a fun new way to scrapbook, that I can do WHILE being a busy mom of two. It's the wonderful world of digital scrapbooking! I discovered a great, FREE software online called Scrapbook Flair, which has given me a new scrapbooking freedom I haven't experienced since Lulu was born. In two and a half weeks I completed a 90 page book. The two weeks was partly due to a deadline of sale through winkflash, which by the way was a killer deal. They were offering their digital 8X10 book printed for $19.95 with a limit of 100 pages. Normal this would be a $50 book through winkflash. This sale motivated me (to say the least) and I got to work putting together a fun book I titled "Simpering Along January-May 2007." I just got the finished product in the mail yesterday and it looks FABULOUS! I can't tell you how much it felt like Christmas to look through that book yesterday! Well, I want to tell you all, even though I know a lot of people (scrapbook guru's...) who think paper scrapbooking is the only way to do it or not at all, digital scrapbooking is cleaner, faster and just as nice looking. I do like paper scrapbooking for my kids, but that's because I love them. It takes a LOT of time, planning, money, TIME... to make a full on scrapbook, and I hardly have any of the above!!! The only downside I found to my new found art is the printed books from places like shutterfly and winkflash are unprotected from tiny hands. The pages bend as easy as their story books and can smudge, so not as child friendly to pull off the shelf and look through unsupervised, but I am just so excited about the idea of actually getting caught up in my personal family history. I have decided I will still make paper books for each of my children for them to take with them later in life, but these digital scrapbooks make it possible for me to journal and make my own book of life with very little money or time! I love it! Here are some of my pages.