goodbye diapers...soon.

Kid#2 has been doing really really well with potty training. Her big sister suddenly decided to be trained about a week before her third birthday. Kid#2 turns 3 tomorrow. So she's not quite going to make that, but she's going to come close it seems. The last few days she's been really really aware of having to go potty and tells me and we go and there's dry diapers and no problems. We've been using the Huggies Pull Ups, in pink princess of course, and I think Huggies has a problem. They've placed disappearing artwork on the front of the pullup. So if the child wets, the artwork disappears. This does NOT encourage the child to stay dry. This encourages the child to pee to see how cool it is when they disappear. So, to avoid the problem, I've made a big deal of NOT making them disappear, and I promised we can make the disappear at bathtime, with water. So we're good I think, but whose stupid idea was that. A better idea would be to have some sort of angry artwork appear when they pee, something scary. For kid#2 that'd be a stuffed ladybug. I know. Whatever. Better luck next time Huggies.

Your children are keeping me up at night

I couldn't sleep last night. I kept thinking about the neighbor kids. Ya, not my own, who were sleeping peacefully. These kids are new to the neighborhood, and nice kids. The oldest is 7, a girl and a new friend to kid#1, the other is 5 and a boy. It turns out they have a rule, where the oldest can only go play with her friends if the young one can tag along. I don't have any 5 year old boys to entertain him, so it seems like an unfair rule to everyone. The older kid, my kids, me, and the 5 yr old boy. I don't understand why they don't get to have their own friends. They are a military family, so I'm certain that it comes from moving every few years and having to rebuild friendships over and over. My dilemma is trying to figure out how to allow the older kid to play with mine, while sending the little one back home to make his own friends with kids his own age. I think the result is going to be that neither of them are going to be able to play with the local kids. Allowing the one to play means essentially committing to babysitting the other. I feel bad for the kids and a little bit angry with the parents.

Top of the Muffin to ya

Low rise jeans = muffin top. I don't know why it took me so long to figure that out. I've been buying medium to low rise jeans under some delusion that if its beneath my annoying belly bulge it makes it less noticeable. I'm completely inept at sucking it in, so obviously my logic is flawed. So I recently gave up on my 5/6 jeans with the too low rise waist from Maurices and accepted that I'm really a size 8, with a mid rise. Beneath the belly button, but not so close to the panty line. I found a great pair at Younkers, from 9West. They fit great and I think once I wash/dry 'em they'll fit even better, not worse like every other pair I own. So. Step one in dressing a bit more trendy: check. I also managed to buy a cute tank and wrap/cardigan thing that looks great, with an awesome long necklace from Deb. I feel more trendy just owning it.

style and time

I need more time. More hours in the day, more days in the week (those would obviously belong to the weekend, no one needs additional work days). I want extra time so I can spend all the time with my family that I do now, still get my work done AND have time to go to the gym, plan meals, and shop for a wardrobe that would make Maggie Mason proud. Somehow it seems unlikely any of that is going to happen. So now, I just have to figure out how to get up earlier to fit a few more things in, and keep my eye out for stellar style deals. I want to wear more tights and skirts...first I have to convince myself I can pull that off.