Where's Waldo?

Austin & I attended a Halloween Party this past weekend. I really wanted us to have coordinating outfits, but apparently I spent too much time on the kid's costumes and didn't leave myself enough time for us. So, Austin was in charge of finding something for himself as was I.

What better couple then Pee Wee and Waldo?

And what better thing to do at a party then taking pictures in crowds of people when your dressed as Waldo?

 

Fourteen Years.

My sophomore year of high school there was a tall, lanky guy that sat behind me in Biology class.  I didn't know him, but it didn't take long before just about everyone was telling me that he "liked" me.  I had no idea who this tall basketball player was, but it wasn't long before I found out he was the most caring and the funniest person I have ever met.

Then, 7 years ago, on this day, I found an engagement ring in a pumpkin I was carving and my future husband on one knee.

Austin, every day I love you more. I love the way you love me when I am not so pleasant to you. I love the way you tell me that I'm being ridiculous when I do something dumb. I love the way you can make me smile even when I'm in the worst of moods. I love the way you sit and read books to Brady and Lola until the bookshelf is empty, and have different voices for each character in every book. I love your salt and pepper hair. I love the way Brady looks up to you and wants to be just like his daddy and how Lola's whole face lights up when she sees you. I love how you work so hard to make sure your family is taken care of. I love that God brought us together.

I love you, babe. I look forward to many more years of "dating".

Xoxo,
GG

Potty Training 2.0

As you may remember from a previous post, we tried to potty train Brady once before, with little success.  I'm not sure if it wasn't a hit because I was 8 months pregnant, him not being "ready", or that I was too grossed out by him eating urine soaked marshmellows.  Yep, that's right.  You can read all about it here.

Anyway, we decided to retry potty-training the weekend before I went back to work from maternity leave.  It went much better this time.  We loaded Brady up with lots of juice (he never gets juice so he sucked it down like candy) and set the timer for every 15 minutes.  Sure enough, every 15 minutes Brady would go to the bathroom in his little Elmo potty.  After he went, he would get a sticker for his sticker chart and a piece of candy (out of a Thomas the Train PEZ dispenser) after he washed his hands.  It was going swimmingly.  We still put him in a pull-up for his nap, but did great otherwise.

The next day he was getting a little bored (despite 4 accidents the previous day, he still used the potty 30 times!!).  We had to spice things up by making the 15 minute timer a "motorcycle" sound that he thought was pretty cool, and by the afternoon we were having him tell us when he needed to go.  Granted, it is much scarier when you are waiting for a 2 year old to give you this information, but he had to learn somehow.

All in all, it wasn't near the headache that I thought I was going to be (especially after our first attempt!!)

After a few days though, we noticed Brady was still having #2 accidents in his pants.  We had no idea how to fix this problem, since we couldn't bribe him with PEZ or stickers anymore.  That's when we decided to re-introduce the marshmellows.  By this time, Brady could see in the cupboard that there was two different sizes of marshmellows, and he knew if he did something REALLY COOL it would mean a larger marshmellow.  Now, after being potty trained for nearly 2 solid months, he still expects a treat when going #2.  Just the other day he announced he needed to go potty and started running to the bathroom, then stopped in his tracks (while holding his bottom), looked at me and said, "I get a BIG marshmellow, Momma.  I get a BIG marshmellow.  I go BIG poop."

Oh man......

 

 

DIY Finding Nemo Costume

When Brady told me that he wanted to be Nemo for Halloween, I was ecstatic.  What could be cuter then dressing up a 2 year old as a fish for Halloween?  Nothing.  But.... then when I got online to buy one, the only sizes available were in 4T or above.  Now, Brady's tall, but let's be real, I don't need a Halloween outfit to last him for years to come, so I needed to get one that actually fit him.

So, that led me to a dilemma that I did not want to deal with.  Making the costume myself.  Let me be honest, first, I tried to talk this kid out of being Nemo time after time, but somewhere along the line Brady got himself a memory, and refused to back down.  Nemo it was.  First, I looked into trusty Pintrest.  I found this DIY Nemo outfit.  It was adorable... though, I knew I needed to put my own spin on it to make it more "Nemo-ish". 

So, I first started with these items:

A 3T zippered sweatshirt and matching sweatpants (I found mine at Kohl's... thanks KK for helping!)
A hot glue gun
6 orange felt squares
6 yellow felt squares
6 white felt sqaures
2 black felt squares
2 orange starched banners (for Nemo's crown)
Scissors
A tin can that was bent into an oval for tracing all the scales

First, I cut out Nemo's tail with 2 of the felt squares.  I folded it in half when I cut to make sure it was symmetrical.

Then, I traced out what seemed like hundreds of scales in each color and aligned them in a Nemo-like pattern.  I made 2 stripes of white to make it like a clown fish.

Then, I took the black felt and made oval-like "lines" to separate the white stripe like a clown fish has.  I will be honest, I tried to just marker in these lines with a Sharpie and it did not work, so I had to go this route.  What's nice about working with felt it the lines don't have to match up exactly with each scale because they are flexible once you start gluing.  I was nervous that I was going to have to spend 4 hours making these pieces, but it was pretty simple once I realized that it would form to the bend of the scale.

When making the front of the sweatshirt, make sure not to glue on the zippered part.  On the front of this one, the middle scales are all glued to the left side of the sweatshirt (when looking at it) and "hide" the zipper."

Next, I made the eyes.  You can use a drinking glass or some other bigger oval to make the white part of the eye if you like, I just cut and it turned out okay.  The orange part of the eye is the same size as the scales, and the black part was a scale that I just took off the edges so it would fit inside the orange part.

The crown is made from the stronger, starchy banner felt.  It is made from 6 rectangular pieces that are all the same size.  I bent the bottoms and glued them on opposite sides of the hood so they work with each other to hold each other up.  Then I covered the parts glued to the hood with the softer orange felt to make it look nicer.

Luckily, Brady was at daycare when I was making this so my only breaks were to tend to Lola.  I was worried that Brady wouldn't like the costume when he got home and tell me that it looked nothing like Nemo.  But..... I was wrong!  He immediately started petting it and kept saying (excited) "It's Nemo!  It's Nemo, Mom!  It's Nemo!  Nemo has a tail!"  And.... my heart was filled with joy.  We, of course, had to take it out for a spin to make sure it looked okay too.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jackster

So, I know I've been a little MIA when it comes to updating my blog recently... okay, for the past year or so... but I am really going to try and jump back on the bandwagon and start blogging again.  This blog, if it hasn't already, will turn into a Pintrest and Kids blog.  That's what happens when I when I became a mother of two.

But, my first blog back I am not going to talk about Pintrest and the rockin' outfit I made of Brady for Halloween, or my dear Lola who this blog hasn't even met.  Nope, I am going to write about my adorable nephew, Jack. 

In case y'all missed it.  Jack is Brady's "identical cousin."  Story in short: My sister Molly & I found out we were pregnant the same day, had the same due date, both went into labor 2 weeks early, and both had boys, within 9 hours.  It was all a pretty incredible story.  But, what's even MORE incredible, is how close the boys have gotten.  This year I've been ultra lucky because every Wednesday I get to hang out with him.  We go to "Bible School" (AKA Bible Study) and this year my mom signed up Jack.  My mom volunteers at the Children's Program at bible school, so I get to drive Lola, Brady, and Jack back and forth. After "Bible School" we go to the "play place" to eat (AKA McDonald's) before I take them back to school.  I truly wouldn't have it any other way.  Our families get together about once a week for a big McCartney Family Dinner, but I usually don't get much one-on-one time with Jack.  I cherish my Wednesdays, because I really get to know Jack on a different level, and, let's be honest, the kids is freakin' adorable.  But, what's even more adorable is the things he says!  This kid has a memory of a computer and can recite about anything back to you.... a month later.  It's incredible.  He even knows Spanish!  Let's recap some of our conversations, shall we?

While driving in the car...
Jack: "Hi Lola!  Hi Lola!  Hi cousin! Hi cousin!"
Me: "Is Lola asleep or awake?"
Brady: "Awake!"
Jack: "She's awake.  Why isn't she answering?"

I was singing "The Wheels on the Bus.."
Jack: "I'm really good at that song.  You are not really good, Browyn"

Jack: " There's a yellow tractor on the sidewalk!!  A yellow tractor! Amarillo!"

As we were following Grandma Mac to lunch.... (driving)
Brady: "We're coming Grandma!  We're coming Grandma! Wait for us Grandma!"
Jack: " Faster Browyn!  Drive faster!  Rapido!"

Jack: "Why is Lola crying?"
Me: "She doesn't want to be in her carseat.  She wants to play"
Jack: "Lola, you need to be in your carseat so you can stay safe."

Me: "Jackster, you're a goofball!"
Jack: "I'm not a goofball!  I'm a meatball!"

The boys are so cute together too when they play.  To be honest, they are either best friends, or fighting like brothers.  These moments make my heart melt though...

Jack: (Looking at the refrigerator magnets)  "Where's the O?  Where's the letter O?"
Brady: "I don't know, Jack.  Where IS the letter O?"
Jack: (Picks up the A) "I got it!! I got the letter O!"
Brady: (looks at the letter and giggles) "No Jack!  That's the letter A!"
Jack: "Oh...."

At night while tucking Brady in to bed..
Me: "Brady, what was your favorite part about today?"
Brady: "Jack."

And the best thing he said was today....

" I want a sister.  I will call her Browyn."  Yep, you heard it here first, folks.  One day I will have a niece named Browyn.   Can't wait for my sis to get knocked up now so we can make Jack's hopes and dreams a reality.  :)

 

 

 

 

Breathe

As some of you may know, I lost a friend in the Aurora theater shooting last month. She was my friend by default, my sister's best friend. Every day I miss Jessi, and I mourn for her loss, but also for the loss my sister has had. It is awful to see someone so close to you hurt so bad. I wish I could take away the pain that my sister is experiencing, as well as Jessi's boyfriend, mother, and friend that was also shot.

Whenever I see such a tragedy on TV I immediately pray. I pray for all the people involved, their families, and the shooters families. When I first heard about the Aurora shooting I was up for an early morning feeding with Lola. Austin woke up with me & couldn't go back to sleep. He turned on his computer and informed me of the shooting, and then told me that my birthday would go down in history for such a tragic event. Then, I did what I always do. I prayed. I thought about the friends I have in Colorado and I prayed for them....

A couple hours later my sister, Molly called me frantically. I remember ignoring her call twice, thinking she just wanted to be the first one to wish my "Happy Birthday." It wasn't until I received her text "call me immediately" that I actually called her. She informed me of Jessi... And that someone needed to tell our sister, Bridget, before she found from a text or a phone call. Still in shock & processing the information myself, I went to Bridget's house and had the hardest conversation I've ever had in my life.

Since the shooting, I've gone through all sorts of emotions. Shock. Numbness. Rage. Regret. Sadness. Even happiness when I think of the memories I do have of Jessi. For the first few days I was glued to the TV and Internet and was following the story so closely. I not only would have nightmares about the things I'd read, but while awake I would be so preoccupied and terrified that I was not paying nearly enough attention to my family. I was so preoccupied with this tragic event that I was missing the present. I am still very, very sad and heartbroken about what happened, but I have to remind myself several times a day that I need to be present, now, rather than be worried or upset about the things that have happened in the past. I need to remember Jessi's youthful and contagious happiness for life, and try not to worry about what could happen in the future.

It still does seem so surreal to me though. I see these things on the TV and I always felt so far away from them... So distant. Now, I see a similar event on TV and it brings me right back to that place I was 2 weeks ago... Once again, I need to concentrate on each breath I take in, each breath I let out, and be thankful for every moment that I am given.