Let the Potty Training Begin

We have now made two unsuccessful attempts at going #2 on the potty. But we are getting closer. Danny makes his face that he has to go, and Momma starts running. Today was the closest attempt of the two. He was all for it. I don't know if he got stage fright and just couldn't finish, but he was so proud of himself. "Potty. Potty. Potty." And of course, David is in there high fiving him.

Men.

Honestly.

If it wasn't bath time, he would have sat on the throne all night!

We just received his little potty today from Jodi. And it was still in the car during our attempt. I am hoping that by having his own cammode, he will be even more enthusiastic.

Note to self: Pull-ups would be helpful to assist with speed. Oh, and to be even more efficient, lose the snap at the bottom shirts and undershirts. The double layer snaps coupled with a diaper that had to be undone...I know the potty training "gods" were laughing at me :)

Hopefully I'll get some cute pictures...that are appropriate...and post them soon! His wedding day slide-show is going to be a breeze!

Let the Landscaping Begin!

I can't wait to have a yard again! I am just chomping at the bit to get moving. But everything takes time, patience, and of course...money. So, we are excited to put the lawn in this summer, and may do a few other things.

I'm excited to finally put together a Memory Garden for Angela. I've got a few mini-rose bushes just waiting to be planted, a beautiful angel statue from my parents and I think I've decided that the center piece will be a Weeping Willow. I love Willow trees. I love the name Willow. I loved the book about OI where the main characters name was Willow and I collect Willow Tree figurines. Serendipitous! I haven't quite figured out what cozy corner or spot this will go, but I think I'll have a few options. I am currently doing some research on deer friendly flowers and shrubs. As much as I enjoy watching the deer, I don't want to invite them for dinner.

Danny loves the dirt. Go figure. And the machinery just fascinates him. Too stinking cute. He will have so much fun running around (dodging Freddy bombs of course).

I just want time to fast forward and to have a green lawn!

When did this happen?

I could just eat him up. He went from a mini-sumo wrestler to mischievous little boy! He was trying to squish into his Bumbo because his cousin Nicholas was in one too.

How I Get Daily My Workout

I can thank Danny for helping me get back into better shape. Of course I'd love to be in even better shape, but I'll take what I can get for now. Every day is a race.

These pictures are from Good Friday. Danny's daycare was closed, and I took the day off. He and I spent the afternoon attempting to straighten the house for Easter company. I was attempting to wash windows in the kitchen. But everytime I would finish, he would follow me and put his little face and fingers all over them. It became a game. I won't lie though...I love seeing those little fingerprints, and I'm so happy the windows are low enough for him to peek out at the world...or the porch.

I stopped what I was doing and followed Danny around with my camera. These shots were taken in about five minutes.

If you click on the pictures, you will see the larger Google size with my commentary :) He is a ball of fun, and a completely mischievious child. And that dimple. Oy vey. That dimple says everything!

I remember

when my grandma died. It feels like yesterday, when in fact, this December 1st, it will be 20-years ago. It amazes me that in the last 20-years, I cannot think of a day that has gone by that I have not thought about her. When I used to live in Rocky River, I would drive past her house everyday on my way home from work. I remember her funeral. I remember crying so hard and being so sad. I remember my Mom being so sad. I remember all of us gathering at my Aunt Susie's house that night. And we all just cried.

I have thought of this a lot lately. In the fall, my Aunt Rosemary passed away after a long battle with cancer. Aunt Rosie had a striking resemblance to my grandma, and as her hair turned gray, it was more like a mirror image. Her voice too. Sometimes it sounded so much like grandmas, that even as an adult, it would stop me in my tracks. Aunt Rosie's funeral broke my heart. Seeing my uncle, cousins and their children so sad, it just tears you a part. And my mom of course. I can't even bring myself to a place were I can fathom losing a sister.

This past week, we lost another special person. Mrs. Jolliffe passed away last Sunday, and I think I have cried everyday since. Mrs. Jolliffe was the happiest, healthiest person ever, I mean, she could run circles around me, until she had a massive heart attack in February. Followed by a massive stroke. And even though she was home again in March, trying to manage the stroke symptoms while she got stronger, her heart did not see her through, and she had another massive heart attack on Easter Saturday. Mrs. Jolliffe went Home on Easter Sunday.

The suddenness of this loss, it just takes your breath away. Seeing the sadness in my brother-in-law John's family, is just devastating. Knowing my sister lost her beloved Mother-In-Law, makes me so sad. And my nieces and nephew, they were crazy about Grandma Jolliffe.

I am so proud of them this week. Lori did an amazing job keeping it all together, getting the kids ready, helping coordinate the wake and funeral, making the program. John gave the most beautiful eulogy I've ever heard. My nephew Jack was a pallbearer. Seeing him so grown up, in a suit, so honored for the responsibility but so devastated at the loss. All three read petitions. They did an amazing job. You couldn't see Janie at the pedestal, but you could hear her voice. So confident. So clear.

It breaks my heart to see people I love so much, so sad.

I am thinking of them all so much with Mother's Day coming up. My cousins, my uncle, the Jolliffe's. A day to celebrate Mom, and this will be the first year without theirs.

I will thinking of them all with love.

Happy Birthday....Me!

I had such a great birthday this year! It was just me and the boys, all day long. We went shopping for patio furniture (finally bought some), and started to lolly gag through Levin and La-Z-Boy thinking about family room furniture and a kitchen table.

We took a ton of pictures of Danny and I, and him acting like a maniac on the couch and climbing through the pantry shelves!


This whole new house thing requires a lot of start up costs! The family room furniture is not a requirement. Patio furniture is new for us. We've never had any before! We didn't have a patio in Lyndhurst, and now we have a great one :) A kitchen table will be needed. I'm thinking more towards Christmas (ie. whatever Gainshare we earn!). So much stuff. And it's just that. Stuff. But it's fun to shop for. At least the window shopping part is fun. I'm not good at the decision making piece. I flip-flop a lot...which is why we went to Litehouse furniture THREE times in less than two weeks. All three times, we we're thinking different sets. Today, we found THE set, and ordered it, and we're hoping it will be here before Easter, and crossing our fingers the weather is warm enough to utilize it! I've attached some pictures below. The chairs have cushions...but I can't find a picture of them :)

We Have Blinds!!!!

Have I mentioned how long it took us to figure out what we wanted to do for blinds in the house. I mean really, we are two very indecisive people. Nuts.

My requirements: cordless or a retractable cord (no child is going to hurt themselves with a cord on my watch!), and the top down/bottom up feature for the second floor and our bedroom. All of the second floor windows are super tall and almost go from the floort to the ceiling. Not quite, but it seems that way. So, the windows will NEVER be open from the bottom. I have an awful visual of a little person pushing right through a screen and tumbling down. I might be a *little* paranoid.

We weighed our options between wood, faux wood, and honeycomb. After much thought, a few showroom visits, and two professionals coming to our house THREE times, we picked the Hunter Douglas 3-cell, topdown/bottom up, retractable cord option in bisque. David installed Danny's tonight, and I almost melted. We have been using a blanket and table cloth on tension rods for two months!!!!

We also did the topdown/bottom up retractable cord in the library. I forget the "official" color, but it is grey.

My husband is the best! We ordered one set of blinds online for the master bathroom, and Dave installed them. The goal was to see how difficult it was for him to do himself versus having them professionally installed. He did them in a pinch, and perfectly! With more confidence under our belt, we ordered almost all of the rest online! Have I mentioned the $aving$ associated to this? Really, it's just silly not to consider this if given the choice.

We did order some from the professionals. These are for the master bedroom and the first floor powder room. Our bedroom is a Roman Vingette and the powder room is woods with tape. We were leary of trying to order and install these on our own :)

I've attached a few pictures for ideas. Only the woods are the actual wood color and tape :)

Roman Vingettes. Ours are brown.

These are the Woods with the tape.

Last are the honeycombs. We ordered all of them with the topdown/bottom up feature. I'm super excited about this!