love love love

hope you all had a LOVEly valentine's day! as per usual, my fancy girls were busy bees. 

lu helped me bake pumpkin banana bread for neighbors the other day, who surprise salted our driveway when a small ice-storm hit & jon was still out of the country. i love our friendly, happy neighborhood!

ballet saturday-

eloise was SO happy to hear her daddy was headed home! :)

dad's welcoming committee- "welcome home, daddy!"

daddy/daughter candyland date-

valentine's makin' station!

a lovely sunday afternoon a couple weeks ago. our neighborhood park restrooms are closed for the winter, which makes it a bit tricky to visit now that lu uses the loo. we headed just up the street to the elementary school playground instead- HOORAY for dry undies! this was eloise's first time in the double-stroller sans carseat, given our usual babywearing situation. she had a blast! *kick kick kick*

**sidenote: lucy is absolutely, completely potty-trained- she even wakes up in the middle of the night to let us know she has to go! i am blown-away by how quickly this all happened once she made up her mind that she was ready!**

lucille washing the lucille mobile- LUCLMBL :) jon's mother's day gift to me a couple of years ago was this personalized license plate. what should we change it to now? my best friend, lauren, suggested "van-durand" :)

watching "the wizard of oz" while i pulled dinner together- truly her current obsession & main topic of conversation :)

valentine treats for my sweets :)

opening snail mail valentines from family & friends :)

library fun!

little bunny ready for spring :)

auntie amy & tasman headed to kc to help meme post-surgery [hysterectomy]- lucy & tasman were so happy for some extra special play days :)

fireside tea party while daddy [uncle jon] & tasman had a man-to-man date :) have i mentioned how much jon longs for a son? he used to say we'd go to 7 to get one- that was pre- having our 2 sweet girls :) now... who knows?!? :)

cousin kiss pile! :-*

new garage doors in the midst of the crazy! next up: exterior paint. fun to see it all [slowly] coming together...

& new waterproof sling! just the ticket to enjoying both my girls together in the water this summer :)

auntie amy with meme's oldest grandbabies- amy's baby bump #2 not pictured :) [milo samuel due this june!!!]

valentine's sister bubblebath- pink water sprinkled with rose petals. we started this sweet little tradition with lu last year-

those rolls!

jon made me heart-shaped french toast satutday morning, paired with 2 dozen pink roses- love my gentleman :)

valentine's day was spent at science city to give meme a break from the kiddos! we had such a blast- 5.5 hours of serious fun!

lucy's favorite part was far & away the tornado. can you guess why? :) "it's just like dor-fy!" [still talking about it days later- quite concerned with how it's doing, so i've promised her we'll visit again soon!]

sharing a cookie-

& a kiss :)

el belle was such a trooper with the numerous far-away bathroom breaks that big sister needed :)

dinner at a japanese steakhouse- the kids did great considering their active, long, busy day!

& now that valentine's day is over, it's not too early for paddy's day crafts- haha! we tied in lucy's beloved "wizard of oz" rainbows :)

family dinner with aunt alli last night-

& we woke up to SNOW!

& hot cocoa :) [in her sleeping beauty nightgown that she insists on wearing every single night- & day if i'd let her!]

we're spending the week helping out my mama with a few fun activities here & there-

xoxo, 

-ivy

lu uses the loo!

jon left for australia on sunday afternoon, and as per usual when he leaves town- particularly when he leaves the country- i get in a weird kinda funk. he & i always know it's coming. it must just be anxiety knowing that my co-parent won't be able to pick up & come home if there's an emergency, won't be here for bath & bedtimes, etc. [+ i really miss him!] this past weekend was no different- saturday afternoon rolled around & i started to feel a little anxious. a direct quote from jon: "alriiight- here we go!" :)

when he left sunday afternoon, my mom came over to help with the girls. hoping for a little time to myself to mentally prepare for the week ahead, i asked if she would mind if i escaped to the grocery store for a few minutes to grab a coffee & stock up on goods for the week. 

as i walked the aisles, a giant snowflake cookie [one quite elsa-esque] caught my eye & i immediately thought "lucy would LOVE that! ... i bet she would even use the potty for it" ... dun dun dun. 

**at this point in "potty training" it was pretty clear that my child would need a visual reminder of a reward for using the potty & keeping dry undies. like most first-time moms, i entered this whole potty training thing [in late december] with a plan. i read, i discussed, i printed handouts, i highlighted, i had potty charts ready to go. heck- i taught preschool pre-"stay at home mom-life" & have potty trained students! but my own toddler? she could care less about my charts, book knowledge & teaching history. she had her own ideas regarding personal toileting efforts.**

i spent the remainder of this "me time" grocery store visit grabbing incentives for lucy to use the potty- a princess balloon, juice boxes [which she has had one time before at a birthday party, talked about non-stop & i'd made clear they were "party punch" for birthday parties only! ... they also happen to make you have to pee ...]

i rushed home & the first thing lu saw was the BALLOON. she ooo'd & aaah'd over it & i told her that big girls who use the potty get princess balloons. 

& that was it. seriously. she excitedly stated "i'm ready! let's DO IT!" 

& she did. she peed on the potty for a princess balloon. 

we haven't looked back!

although monday was a bit rough- it was the first full-day diaper free & it was a full-time job. & you know what else was a full time job? my 8 month old. 

having 2 kids in diapers? no problem. i even found it to be pretty darn convenient!

potty training a toddler with a baby in the mix? not planning on doing that again. [so either we wait quite awhile, or eloise is a prodigy child & potty trains early shmerly] 

in other household news-

my neighbor-friend has a darling boutique out of her home with lots of goodies. she designs these bitty baby ballerina slippers & i about died when i saw them! immediately had to get a pair for e in classic ballerina pink :)

2 year old ballerinas dressed as madeline :)

BIG ELOISE NEWS! this sweet little gal is really, actually drinking out of that straw cup! & loving it! this is really as exciting to me as lucy being potty trained!!! such a big step for her & i can't believe it, but a date night for her daddy & me is on the horizon :)

that dimple-

flowers from jon that scream "sorry for leaving you for australia..."

jon took lucy to target for groceries- & came back with a minnie mouse bike helmut, giant dora coloring book, and an elsa & anna tumbler- daddy's girl? no question. 

my baby-wearing baby-

this was a happy moment for me :) lucy's requested to watch the wizard of oz every day since she first saw it sunday! [quite useful when potty training, i've learned] i'll let her watch a scene or 2 while i pull breakfast together because how do i say no to a classic? when she watched "over the rainbow" yesterday, she pointed to judy & actually said "i want to sing like her!" her favorites to talk about are the tornado falling out of the sky, dorothy's "new dress" when the movie goes from b&w to color, glinda's pink princess dress & "tay-to" [also known as "toto" to the rest of society]

jon & i backstage at the theatre in the park- summer 2004 :)

library storytime on tuesday seemed like a pretty safe place to take lucy out in public wearing undies for the first time, as it's close to our house & the storytime room is directly across from a toilet!

eloise was super into the action this week-

& guess what?!?! my big girl kept DRY UNDIES the entire visit! waited until we got home to the safety of her princess potty :)

we made valentine's glitter slime in celebration-

 we hit the library again today, knowing there was an extra storytime this week. this time she actually used the library potty!

so of course we had a potty party to celebrate!!! [& sang "we like to potty... we like... we to potty!" -anyone?]

away she goes wearing her "princess potty tiara"- she gets a new jewel [sticker] for each dry undies check & potty usage :)

this little one has been SUCH a trooper through it all- 

she got some new food mixes out of it :) zucchini/kale, yellow squash, sweet potato & avocado. her newest favorite is munching on cooked carrot sticks that she can hold herself. she enjoys food so much more than lucy did at this point & it's actually really fun to try new foods with her, knowing she's loving it!

& for the road- a couple of kangaroo pics jon posted yesterday. out of curiosity: would you rather be sightseeing kangas ... or potty-training? :)

jon gets back in a couple of days- excited to get back to our normal crazy! until then, you'll probably find my toddler running around pantless, despite the snow outside, proudly showing off her big girl panties :)

-ivy