Here's one for ya...

Yesterday was an interesting day. I probably jinxed myself mentioning the long nap from the day before because Monday was a no nap day for Katherine. When I realized after lunch that we were going nowhere fast with the snoozing I decided that it would be best to get back outside so that a. I could finish the little project I started that morning and b. It would tire our girl out. So out to the front yard we went where I continued the attack on our patch of pompous grass badly in need of a haircut and Katherine very happily playing in the front yard. Well the UPS man drove up the street which Katherine loved..."Big truck Mommy!" When he came back down the street he gave Katherine a low wave and I wondered why he didn't wave more enthusiastically. I turned around just in time to see my daughter drop trou in the middle of the front yard. Seems she had pooped in her pants (I had been trying to get her to do this all morning...on the potty) and she was trying to inspect her handiwork. Right in front of the UPS man! In the middle of our front yard! Crap! (figuratively and literally) Immediately I sprang into action. Pants up ("We don't pull our pants down in the front yard!"), in the house, to the potty for clean up. Where I discovered the outcome of eating a lot of craisins and applesauce. Long story short, we're out of flushable wipes.

Now I know my ABCs

Wow, Friday already although at times this week did not seem to fly by. Ted's half marathon is tomorrow morning and I'm really hoping it does not rain for him. I'm thinking of taking K. downtown to cheer him on, I just need to guage the race start time against his anticipated run time to make sure we catch him at the finish.

We've been treated to sing alongs during our drive in this week. As we start down the highway we'll hear a soft..."A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." from the backseat. She can pretty much make her way through the song too although I'm not too sure what she's singing at the L, M, N, O, P part. Sometimes she counts, things get sketchy after number 13. When she was a baby I would sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to her at bedtime every night. She's asking for it again at bedtime (partly as procrastination measure I think) except now she sings along with me. The other night she sang it to put one of her dollies to sleep.

Katherine is still in the younger two's room, we were hoping for a move up when we got back from Massachusetts but I think she still needs to make a bit more progress on the "pooping in the potty" front. At this point we're all pretty sure she's holding it in, so much so you swear the kid is constipated. No amount of encouragement either at home or school will make things happen until she's good and ready for it to happen. She'll tell you with lots of conviction that..."POOPS go in da pooootttty!!!" but the regular execution of this statement still remains to be seen. Everyone tells me this is a phase but really Katherine? Is it that big of a deal to just sit with a good book and let nature take its course? That issue aside, pottying is going WONDERFUL, she's been dry even at night all this week so we'll just count our blessings. No pressure big girl.

Oh yes and "I do it!" is still alive and well. Earlier in the week I picked up her and took her down from her bathroom stool. I got a quick retort of... "NOOOOOO!!! NOT NICE! I DO IT!" She proceeded to climb herself right back up the stool and climb down again all by herself. There. She showed me.

Gotta go, Gotta, go, Gotta go...

This morning dawned with a groggy but definitely a bit more awake Katherine than previous mornings. She actually crawled herself out of bed and came into our room while we were getting dressed. Then she proceeded to crawl right up into our bed. So dressing occurred in our bed instead of hers. The pull up this morning was bone dry, this is becoming a regular occurrence, so we started the "Let's go to the potty!" Mantra. No go people. Now honestly I don't understand this. My feet hit the floor in the morning and the first place I head before doing anything else is the potty. Clearly the kid had to go, right? But as usual, there were the tears and the pouting and the "I don't wanna!" So downstairs for breakfast we went with more of the "Let's go potty!" chant from Ted and I. Nope. Some of you are probably asking why I don't just grab the kid and sit her on the potty. Done that, bought that t-shirt, and I'm here to tell you it didn't go too well (and my Mom was there as a witness). As I've said before stubborn Miss K. has made it clear that potty training will occur on her terms.

Ted and I drove in to work separately today and right before I went out the door with her I realized a few things: a. My child had not gone to the bathroom in oh, about 11 hours so clearly she needed to go. b. She was in big girl underwear and c. We were about to head out the door, where we would be in a bathroomless car for the next 20 minutes. So I reiterated to her ONE MORE TIME that either she try to go potty now or she had to wait until we got to school and I would not be happy with her if she went in the car seeing as she had ample opportunity to go before we left (OK, yes, I could have left the dry pull-up on her but we are really trying to be consistent with this stuff, during the day its big girl underwear). Again she refused so into the car we went.

Since we both arrived at our destinations in one piece I can say now that I drove like the wind (or maniac) down the highway, fearing a sudden "I wet" from the backseat at any moment. We arrived nice and dry. Out of the car, in the door, past the security door, down the hall and into the classroom where she immediately made a bee line for the potty. Phew, we made it! She's got a stronger bladder than me, that's all I have to say.

I do it!

Hello there! I needed to let Ted's post stay there for a good day before I posted again basically because I thought that video was just TOO DARN CUTE to upsurp it right away. I didn't even realize he had caught that moment on video until I saw it posted myself. I was home at the time too but who knows what I was doing. I keep watching it over and over to marvel in its cuteness and to realize that boy are we in trouble when that child turns 13. You can totally see that "Oh, Daaaddd!" sigh right before she reasserts her demand to watch "THOMAS!". Which, btw, in case you are wondering, I'm pretty sure golf stayed on the TV, it was Daddy's turn. I say I am pretty sure because like I said I was in the other room doing who knows what at the time. But every time I popped in the room golf was still on. We are trying to teach Miss K. that we take turns around our house and it was Daddy's turn.

Wow, Tuesday midday already! I'm having a pretty productive week so far at work, getting reports done, etc... And I've also stepped up the lunch time work out. My co-worker Stephanie and I head down to the gym at lunchtime for a 20 minute power workout as many days as we can. Yesterday I decided I wasn't feeling it lately and so I pushed myself during our sprints, push ups and situps. I guess I was successful because right now it is very painful to lift my arms above my head and my abs ache whenever I move just right. However, I'm keeping at at it...my upper body may be sore but my legs are still working fine! So I just went down and hit the elliptical machine for 20 minutes (ok 15 but again I pushed myself). No pain, no gain.

As the title of the post implies, Miss K's budding independence is alive and well. On Sunday she showed that by completely undressing and redressing herself twice in the middle of the afternoon. Yes, I came upstairs at some point post nap to find my daughter naked as a jay bird and completely pleased that she had gotten her clothes off, all by herself. And she wanted no help putting them back on, no siree. "I did it!" she explaimed after getting her shirt on. Underwear on backward and upside down? No problem! Ted and I both could see we had a potential situation on our hands come Monday morning when dressing has to be somewhat speedy to get everyone out the door for the carpool to work/daycare. We prepped by making sure things were ready the night before and its a good thing we did. Come Monday morning she looked at me and said "I do it!" when I tried to get her dressed. Luckily we had a few extra minutes for her to "do it" before we had to race out the door. There was a repeat this morning when she insisted on unbuttoning her pj top all by herself. I'm glad that she's working on mastering this skill but it does kind of make you miss the mornings were dressing was a five minute affair on the changing table.

In other BIG NEWS from this weekend...dut dut dut daahhh...Katherine pooped in the potty! Believe me before I became a parent I NEVER thought I would be telling everyone about this but change enough stinky diapers and you are ready to shout it from the rooftops when your child learns to use the potty for such things. We made a huge deal out of when it happened and Miss K. was very proud of herself..."Daddee, I pooped in the potty!" We're waiting for a repeat performance at preschool where a "party in the potty" is promised when a child first accomplishes this feat. There is a light at the end of this potty training tunnel.

Do the Potty Dance

Ted's Grandma emailed me this link:

The Potty Dance

I think it speaks for itself.

Why I love my bed

I should probably type "we" there since I know that Ted shares my sentiments. Why this much attention to our bed? Well, for Christmas Ted's Grandma got us this lovely item. Can I just say it is one of the most wonderful things ever invented? You lay down in the bed and you're first thought is "AAAHHHHH!!!". After a long day it completely relaxes your entire body. Not only that, the thing has zones, one for each side of the bed and then three zones on each side to control your feet, legs/torso and shoulders/head. So if you have icicles for feet you can turn that up to say a 4 and leave the rest of you at a 2. And if your hubby is colder than you are he can turn up his side without interrupting you. Or turn it on to "preheat" about 30 minutes before you get into bed and then turn it down to your normal temp right as you get into bed. Honestly, we don't keep it on all night since the bed would get way too hot and I must admit I am fearful about a wire shorting out or something. But turn it on for a good 30 minutes or so and turn it off just as your turning out the lights and I can GUARANTEE you a cozy night's sleep. I'm telling you, whoever invented this was on to something. It makes those old electronic blankets just look plain sorry. Have I sold you on it?

The overdue weekend update. I'll leave the car show details to Ted (although I did pick out a nice Mercedes that I could totally see myself driving). And the inside of the new convention center was nice too (actually I think there were quite a few people who were there to check out the convention center in addition to the cars). While Ted, myself and Ted's Dad checked out the cars, Miss K. and Gram C. had a great time hanging out at home. The weather around here was and continues to be gorgeous so we spent some time "owside" as well. I worked on the butterfly canvases and finished them Sunday night. Honestly, they came out even better than I expected. I've taken some pictures and I'll upload them tonight so you can check them out for yourselves.

Two big successes on the potty training front. On Sunday night K. informed Ted that she needed to use the potty and proceded to go over and use it! This is a first, that she recognized that she needed to go and most importantly that she made it to the potty to actually go. AND yesterday we had our first accident free day! I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sitting Pretty!

We've had a big week around here. I've kept quiet about purposely because I was not sure of how successful things would be but I'm now happy to report that Miss K. has spent her first full week sitting pretty in big girl underwear! Trust me it is still not smooth sailing. She is still in pull ups for bedtime and we continue to have challenges about getting her to sit on the potty at home, especially first thing in the morning. Can I tell you how many times I've read "Five Little Monkeys" while someone has been perched on their Elmo Potty Seat? But overall, wow, what an improvement. I'm glad we bit the bullet and decided to go for it. And daycare has been extremely supportive, when I mentioned last Friday that we had tried underwear at home with some success their response was "let's try it here". She had two accidents the first day but after that it has been just one all day, mostly right after nap. I totally agree with all of the advice I got from other parents that until the child is uncomfortable with wet pants, you aren't going anywhere, definitely true with our child.

Katherine has also been rather clingy at drop off time this week, which is out of the blue compared to previous weeks. I'm chalking it up to the whole potty training thing but really, what do I know?

I also discovered the source of the newly acquired "No way!" We were watching Go, Diego, Go ("Go, go go!") one night before bedtime and Diego exclaimed it to answer a question (as in "Can a bicycle get us across the river?... No Way!"). Miss K. was all too happy to repeat it. There you go. Probably a good reason, among many others, to start limiting the TV time. That and I don't appreciate Katherine's whining..."Watcha the TV!" Time to nip that in the bud. Of course this means we need to start limiting ALL of our TV time, she needs to learn that that screen does not have to be lit up anytime we are in the house and awake.

So what's on tap for this weekend? A visit from Papa and Gram Coberly! They are planning on picking her up from daycare right after nap, the first pickup for them. The International Auto Show is this weekend and Ted is planning on going. Will I go? Not sure, it may be a father/son outing, while the girls do something else. Although I do want to check out the brand new Raleigh Convention Center I'm not sure how interested I am in sitting in car after car. Although I do get a kick out of watching how excited Ted gets as he tours the floor.

I'm also overdue on some other posts that I've been mulling around in my head, mainly an update on why I love my bed so much now and Miss K's new wheels. And then there's the January photo album. Busy busy busy!

No Way!

Seems appropriate to start off today's post with the phrase that Miss K. has been uttering to every request all weekend long. I heard it first on Friday night and it continued from there. The best one was when I was getting her ready to go over to the neighbor's house. I asked her to come sit with me so I could put on her shoes. She started to sit down on my lap, then stood up, turned around, gave me a face and said "No Way!" If she wasn't already in her room, I probably would have sent her there. Then there was the time when she blurted it out and the response she got from Ted and I was a simultaneous and very loud "YES!" She got the picture...sort of.

With the exception of bedtime, we kept Katherine in underwear all weekend. It was time, we experimented with it last weekend and found that she now finds it uncomfortable when she's wet. This is a big change from when we tried it a couple of months ago, the kid was happy to play all in wet pants then. So we decided to capitalize on this and she was sitting pretty in princess underwear. Yes, there were accidents but we stuck with it. And I am happy to report that there was a big improvement between Saturday morning (when she threw an all out temper tantrum at the simple request to sit on the potty) and Sunday evening (when we had an extended sitting session reading books). She was dry through nap time both days. So we've decided that when she's home, she's going into underwear. We'll see how the next week goes and we might talk to the teachers at school about switching her into underwear there as well. I feel like we've made progress this weekend.

I spent the weekend uploading to itunes, I'm almost done with my old stuff. Then its on to the list of new stuff I want to find. And...dut dut dut dah! I used the ipod all by myself this weekend, I took a quick trip to Old Navy (where, incidently, I got the cutest umbrella! Blue floral print) so I plugged it in for the drive. I loved it.

Decking the halls

Katherine and I set right to work after we arrived home on Monday setting up the Christmas tree. She got quite a kick out of the whole thing. I think the challenge this year won't be keeping her away from the tree, it will be keep her from UNDER the tree:I loved laying under the Christmas tree myself when I was a kid, so I know the fascination. For the last two evenings, we went over to the light the tree first thing when we got home. Her whole face lights right up as soon as the tree is on. I love watching her discover this whole time of year, there's nothing like seeing Christmas through the eyes of a little one.

Small things make me really happy. Katherine was dry this evening and used the potty! Maybe we are moving forward once again!

Public Service Announcement

For those who like holiday specials as much as I do!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on tonight! 8pm on ABC. It will also repeat again on Thursday night. Miss K. and I will be watching tonight! In fact if you look on the left hand side of the ABC site it also tells you when are other specials are going to be airing, we're almost full swing into that time of year! I know you can buy most of these on DVD now but as I've said before, there is something special about watching it the night it is on TV.

We've taken a step backwards in potty training. Katherine was doing wonderfully but now she wants nothing to do with the potty when we're at home. We encourage and remind her constantly. I should say almost nothing to do with the potty because last night she refused to use the potty, waited until I got a fresh pull up on her and her pjs and then announced that, yes, she was going to go and use the potty. As if to tell us, I'll let you know when I'm good and ready to use the potty.

Deer Burgers

As some of you may have noticed from Ted’s comment yesterday, I did leave out a detail from our Tuesday night, not intentionally though. Our neighbor John called us in the midst of the Big Potty Moment and asked me if I liked deer meat. I had to be truthful and say that well, I’ve never had deer meat before, to which he responded that he had just made up some burgers, half deer meat, half beef and would we be interested in a couple? Well, as many of you know I am not brave when it comes to trying new foods. Ted however will give most things a try. So I handed the phone to Ted who promptly said that yeah, a couple of burgers sounded good. A few minutes later John was at our door step with two freshly grilled burgers all made up with cheese and a bun. To which a conversation ensued between the two of them about how unadventurous I am with trying new foods. Well, what was I do but “belly up” and try a bite of the burger? I didn’t even put ketchup on it first, usually a must for me. In all honesty, it was a pretty good burger; I could not taste what some describe as a “gamey” flavor, probably because it was 50/50 beef and deer. However, in my mind I had a tough time overcoming the fact that I was eating deer. I don't know how brave I would be to try a full out deer burger. Ted didn’t have that problem at all, he dug right in. In fact, he took my burger for lunch the following day.

So thanks go out to our neighbor John in expanding our palettes a bit. I’m not sure that it will become a frequent part of my diet but it once again proves that trying new things isn’t so bad!

We’ve also had two nights in a row with the potty! You go Miss K.!

Oh What a Night!

No need for a fancy lead in, let’s get right to the news…Katherine peed in the potty at home last night! She had done it once for Ted this past weekend but this was my first time. The smile that emerged from her face when she realized what had just happened was the sweetest thing in the world. I was also grinning from ear to ear right back at her, we were both soooo proud (stop the chuckling, this is big stuff)! Seeing my excitement got her really wound up, of course, right about the time we were getting ready for bed but whatever! It not everyday such exciting things happen!

It was also a big night for another reason, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! was on TV. I am a huge fan of the Charlie Brown specials so of course I let Katherine stay up a bit later so that she could watch for the first time. One second she was running all over the room, the next second she was enthralled with the Peanuts Gang. Definitely a success! This makes me excited for the upcoming holiday specials on TV. I realize that nowadays you can buy them all on DVD but there is just something special about watching it the night it is on TV. Do any of you remember the music that would play right before a CBS Special came on? Still brings a smile to my face!

Adventures in Potty Training...

The potty training continues. Katherine has been very successful so far at preschool, thanks to the help of 8 other two year olds who are more than happy to model (or have K. model for them) their new found skill. Things are going a bit slower on the home front, she still has the routine down but we have yet to see an actual “deposit”, so to speak, in the potty. At the same time, she is becoming increasingly defiant about wearing Pull Ups at home. On Sunday, I was fed up with the Pull Up battle so I just pulled up her pants sans Pull Up. My Grandmother swears by this; just let them run around without anything, they don’t like the feeling of wet pants. Well, wouldn’t you know K. wet herself and just kept on going. Didn’t phase her one bit, the little stinker.

Last night she started to pull down her pants in the TV room. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she ran right into the bathroom. I followed behind to be of assistance. I immediately got a loud “Noooooo! Back!” Seems K. didn’t want any help. She pushed me right back to the door of the TV room and ran back to the bathroom herself. She then proceeded to duck into the corner, where she was just out of site, pull down her pants and take off her Pull Up. This is where it gets funny and I wish I had thought of the video camera. Without pulling her pants back up, she waddled out of the bathroom, down the hall and into her room to throw the Pull Up away in her diaper pail (yes, time to introduce her to the bathroom trash can). Then she waddled right back (pants still around her ankles) to the bathroom, climbed up on her stool, put the seat cover up and sat herself down on the potty. And even then she didn’t want me anywhere near the bathroom, if a I took a step or two I got a loud “Noooo!” After sitting for a minute, she took the pants completely off, got up, flushed, washed hands and proceeded to run around the house bare bottomed, awaiting another round in the Battle of the Pull Up.

We have no plans this weekend, so I may put some underwear on her and see what happens.

You also may have noticed a new feature on the side. I am part of a monthly book club at our local library. I frequently get questions about what we are reading each month. So I’ve included a link to the monthly book choice. I’d like to put links to other books I’m reading, but let’s be serious…I barely have time to read one book a month, let alone two.

Weekend Update

We're enjoying a nice long weekend (for myself and Miss K.) around here. I am happy to report that the bathroom is all sanded! I didn't end up needing the electric sander, things smoothed out very easily with a sanding sponge. WHAT A MESS! Not only was there dust everywhere, I must be honest and admit that we haven't exactly been too thorough in our cleaning of that bathroom recently. I am ashamed to admit I having been taking showers in there. So after the sanding was finish, the place got a complete top to bottom cleaning. There are still a few spots on the walls that I need to be touched up either with spackle or some wallpaper remover to get off some stubborn glue but that should take maybe an hour tomorrow. This means I am just about ready for paint!!! Phew! I have tentively planned the first weekend in October, right after our trip to Massachusetts to do the painting. This gives me plenty of time to finish prepping and get those light fixtures up. The end is in sight!

On Friday I took Katherine to the library while we were doing our morning errands. I needed to pick up a book for Ted and I knew she would enjoy the chance to look at the books herself. I was right, she had a ball. The Zebulon branch library is small, quaint and very family friendly. Miss K. ran right over to her section and started grabbing books. I was concerned that she would trash the place however, Suzanne the librarian (who I know from book club) said "that's her job". Luckily she didn't make a mess of the place and we picked up a handful of books to take home.

Ted ran a 10K race early this morning in Rocky Mount. I'll let him give the complete update but he says it went well for him. K. and I were going to go to cheer him on but since he was planning on leaving at 6:15 in the morning to head over to the race he felt it would be better for us to stay home.

A cute moment from this morning. Katherine found her play phone in her toy box. She picked it up and had a little conversation:

"Hi"
"Yes"
"I know"
"Yes"
"Bye"

Not much report on the potty training front. No repeat performances of the success earlier in the week. And this weekend, Miss K has not been too fond of the sitting on the potty. I'm trying not to force it, she'll get it when she's ready. However, something her teacher Caroline said this week made me think of last year at this time when we were waiting for those first steps. Caroline said: "She knows the whole routine and wants to sit on the potty all the time. I believe she's ready." I had immediately flashbacks to her teacher at the Dix Preschool, Mona, saying: "She can walk, I know she can walk, she just doesn't want to." Mona, Marcie, and Janet, if you're reading this, I know you're chuckling right now. That's my girl!

Success!

We were greeting with wonderful news when we picked Katherine up from daycare yesterday afternoon. She used the potty!!! Not just sitting down and going through a trial run, which she did many times this past weekend, an actual full fledged moment on the potty! Naturally I got all excited when I heard the news and the teacher commented on how much she loves watching parents reaction when they tell them the good news. I am amazed that only one week in the two year old room and we’ve come this far.

The kids were out on the playground and Miss K. was having a wonderful time running around and going down the slide. So much so that she threw a little fit when it was time to leave. This was actually a huge relief to me, it lets me know that she likes it there.

This morning when I dropped her off, another classmate arrived at the same time. Katherine started waiving and said “Hi Cindy!” Little miss social butterfly, making friends already!

TGI...Thursday!

Just a quiet Thursday night around here. We've had an excellent week, Katherine made a very smooth transition into the two year old room and her teachers report she is already sitting on the potty. It actually happened her first full day in the room, they were changing her diaper and she just went over and sat down! Since then, they report that she won't even wait for her clothes to come down. Obviously nothing is happening just yet when she sits but we've made a big leap forward this week! Tonight when I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty she ran right into the bathroom and climbed up on the toilet. Of course when I put the Elmo potty seat down and tried to get her to repeat it, no such luck. Oh well.

Katherine has also begun to say "Thank You" in the past week or so. It actually sounds more like "Daaayy Dooo" but what is really surprising is that she always says it at the appropriate time. I also think I caught a bit of "Your Welcome" the other day too, which I always say to her after she says thank you.

The big girl bed is working well so far, we haven't had any climbing out bed after we put her down or at odd hours. I can't complain (and probably shouldn't speak too soon) but bedtime has been quite smooth lately.

I'm sure you've all been watching the weather reports and it looks like Hanna is headed our way. In Raleigh they are predicting a nasty Saturday, rain and wind. Perfect day to hunker down and...paint a bathroom ceiling! I was noticing the other night that the ceiling could use a coat of paint and since I am redoing it, I should take advatage of the opportunity, so to speak. What's left on the to do list you ask?

• Paint the ceiling, white of course
• Install new light fixtures (no picture online, so you'll just have to wait and see!)
• Make any wall repairs from the old light fixtures.
• Sanding...lots of sanding, this should help make it quick
• Prep for wall painting, I don't paint walls without lots of painter's tape.
• Paint walls, distant valley is probably going to be the wall color
• I might also spray paint some of the faucet and drawer handles, I am encouraged since the mirror came out so well.

Wow, that is quite a list. I am hoping to be done by mid-October, remember most of the work is done during weekend naptimes, especially the painting. We'll see!

Halfway there...

Its been a long week already and we're only halfway through! After a wonderful weekend, Katherine came down with a good fever on Monday. She spent yesterday home with me, home is used lightly here because a good part of our day was spent at the doctor's office where they were making sure she did not have a UTI. Why so long? Because we were waiting for Ms K. to go, she certainly is ready for potty training because she sure can hold it when she wants to. Speaking of potty training, we haven't fully started but I can already tell we're going to have one big hurdle to jump through first, getting her to sit on the potty for longer than two seconds. Right now she gets all excited when you ask her if she wants to sit on the potty (an Elmo potty seat too!) until she actually starts sitting on it. Then she wants to get off ASAP. She'll need to learn to stick around a bit longer if we expect something to happen. I'm told this is where daycare will be a blessing, once she sees all of the other kids doing it, she'll want to too! At least we hope.

An update on the contacts. I'm definitely getting the hang of putting them in and taking them out. However, the feeling of having something in my eye is not going away, especially in my left eye. I have an astigmatism in this eye and I swear the contact moves around a bit. Also, I had to switch solutions, the first one made my eyes itch so bad, I couldn't wait to take them out. The second solution made my eyes burn a bit. However, I found a solution for sensitive eyes that I can use to rinse the contacts before I put them in (this solution does not disinfect). Luckily my follow up appointment is tomorrow, so I will bring all this up with the doctor. Overall I like the flexibility that wearing contacts is offering me (hooray sunglasses!) so I'm willing to keep going to find the combination of contact brand and solution that suits me.

I also promise a bathroom redo update really soon. I've been chipping away at it, 30 min here, an hour there. There is some good progress. I hope to be ready to paint next month.

Finally, in a completely random note, I was thinking about what I was going to post last night after putting K. down. While I was deep in thought I helped myself to the last of the chocolate ice cream and to make it even better I drizzled melted peanut butter over the top of it. WOW. There are two flavor combinations in this world that were just meant for one another: chocolate and mint and chocolate and peanut butter. For all the New Englanders out there, it made me crave a Friendly's Sundae (specifically a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Sundae on mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. Say it with me now...mmmmmmmm....). Unfortunately for me, there's no Friendly's around these parts (only two in all of North Carolina...I know!). When's the next trip north?