Potty Training and A Big Boy Bed

A few weeks ago I started trying to get Riley to go potty on the toilet. We had some success and some accidents. Actually more accidents than successes. I decided to give it a rest. Boy, am I glad I did. Just this week Riley got motivated to do it himself. My mom bought Riley some new undies and with the help of Lucky Charms cereal we are on our way. There was a little bit of a power struggle to get him to go every little bit so I now let him tell me. Little did I know my boy is a genius and started telling me when he had to go. He is great about going potty other places and telling me when he has to go poop. I can't tell you how proud I am of my little guy. He is awesome and he looks so cute in his undies. Now I know what it is like to not have to change diapers all the time. I love it. Granted... I will have my share of baby diapers soon enough, but I don't even mind about that. Buying one size of diapers is an exciting prospect. I am more amazed with my sweet boy every day. He is the best.

As for the big boy bed... I found one on Craig's List and we just bought it the other day. He has been climbing out of his crib for some time now so he was definitly ready. He fell out the first night but has been great ever since. We bought him cool car sheets and he has been staying in bed all night. Again, I have to say that Riley is the best. I can't wait to see what we get with the next baby. If this new one is 1/2 as amazing, we are in luck. We took his crib apart the night we got the bed and he wants the new baby to sleep in it already. So cute!!!

Pursuit of Happyness

This movie was on last night. Have you ever seen it? I had mixed emotions about it. Even though I knew how it ended I was still stressed out. I was pretty much sad through the entire movie. Will Smith and his adorable son made you love them and wish they could have just had it a little easier. It was good though because it made me realize how much we really have. This caused me to have a little self reflection.

For those of you who know me best, know that I like to look cute and I like nice things (champagne taste on a Koolaid budget if you will). I love to get new clothes and shoes and kind of wish I wasn't like that sometimes. I wish I was one of those people who have a hard time spending money on themselves or who hated shopping. I LOVE shopping. I am one of those people who get a high from it and could shop very often. I love finding a deal, but more than that, I love finding a beautiful pair of heels that make my legs look amazing or a pair of pants that fit just right. Ya know what I mean?!?!? Anywho... I know I can't really change who I am but when I see a movie about a guy like Chris Gardner, it makes me think. It makes me want to be better.

On a different note, the movie also made me love Riley more than ever. It made me want to go pick him out of his bed and hug him forever. It made me want to be a better mom. If you have seen the movie let me know if you felt the same.

Pregnancy and dreams...

I don't know if I am alone on this one but when I am pregnant my dreams are messed up!! Before I had Riley I would have dreams where my baby got switched at the hospital (with and Indian couple of all people) or that I left my baby on a high place and just walked away. Basically it was neglect that I was worrying about I guess.

With this baby so far I have had two dreams. One was good and the other was HORRIBLE!! My first one was that I had a baby boy with a ton of dark hair (he actually looked like the baby of some friends of ours, so I think that is where that one came from). That one wasn't so bad. But just last night I had a really disturbing dream: I was cooking for a bunch of people and Riley was helping me, as he often will, and I was really frazzled trying to get all the food done. I walked away and the next thing that I knew, Riley was sticking both hands a pot of boiling water and his little hands burst out in blisters and he was just crying and crying. I was so upset that I woke up and said a prayer to get those images out of my head. I felt bad for a little while and had to remind myself that Riley was fine and sleeping in his bed.

What is up with that??? I feel like I am telling myself I should NOT be having more kids because I can't even take care of the one I have!! UGH!! I know that's not true. Riley is awesome, but I guess I am more worried about it than I thought.

Am I alone in this or does anyone else have some crazy pregnant dreams to share?

"I be so brave!"

Today was Riley's 3 year check-up (a little late, I know, but I totally spaced it for awhile) and to say that I was scared was putting it mildly. Somewhere between one and two, Riley gained and intense fear of the doctor. I am sure that kind of thing is normal but it was still hard. He would constantly say "I no go doctor!" over and over again on our way to the office and the crying would begin as soon as we were taken back. Weighing and measuring was always a nightmare and forget the doctor even getting his hands on Riley without a serious wrestling match. For a well visit it wasn't that big of a deal, but if there was actually something wrong it was a problem. UGH!! So, the older Riley gets the stronger he gets and the louder he gets and so I was scared about today. I was even avoiding telling him about it until the very last moment.

But, I should give my sweet son some credit. I told him about the appointment yesterday and he was fine. I prepared him all day, telling him that we would go to the park before and there would be ice cream after. He responded "I be so brave." He kept saying that and he was great. Being 3 now the visit is a little different. They wanted to check his eyes and they gave him a little gown to wear. He didn't like the paper gown. He said it felt weird but he did great at the eye test and every other exam they had to do. I love that my son is old enough to reason with and is smart enough to know I would never let anything bad happen to him. Riley is awesome.

Minnesota visit!

Two weekends ago we went to visit my brother Nate and his family in MN. It was a long drive but Riley did awesome and we had a great time. We loved MN. Everything about it seemed better than where we live now. :) We saw beautiful parks, the MALL OF AMERICA!, and the coolest children's museum I have ever seen. Here are a few of the highlights.