Potty Training.

Last week was quite possibly the longest week of my life. And we're doing it all over again this week.

We've been potty training. And I'm pretty sure my children are only alive because of Diet Coke, and my sweet mother in law who will listen to me whine a million times a day without judging me or making me feel like a complete idiot.

When it comes to parenting, I have no idea what I'm doing. I am totally out of my element here, especially in the potty training arena. We cloth diaper. And it's fantastic. And we have two kids in diapers. And we really don't want THREE kiddos in diapers. One night Claire had started to poop and Ross and I decided to stick her on the potty against her will. And she did it. We made the biggest deal out of it and that's what got this train rolling. And I wasn't ready for it. I really don't think there's a "good time" to potty train. There's ALWAYS something going on. Every single week is ridiculously busy, so I just had to go with it.

I thought I had a good plan and went with it for the first two days. Boy oh boy was I wrong. It was frustrating. Everyone was yelling and crying and it was the most frustrating, miserable two days. That second night I really didn't like myself, really didn't like being a mom, and really didn't think I was cut out for this. I started to think Heavenly Father had made a MONDO mistake by making me a mother and putting me in charge of these girls. I had a pretty lengthy chat with Him about all of the reasons why He got it wrong and how I'm REALLY not cut out for this whole Mothering business. I literally felt like I was going INSANE and should be admitted. But I didn't want to give up, because then the two miserable days we had spent destroying our relationship would be for nothing. After I soaked my pillow and stained it with mascara, I had a new idea.

On Day 3 I decided to completely change tactics. The new plan seemed to be working MUCH better. Everyone was happier, I didn't have to spend the entire day in the bathroom (Which was probably contributing to my loss of sanity.), and most of all Claire was happier and she still liked me despite all of the trauma of the previous days.

It's been hard, mostly because with my doctor appointments, I have to put a diaper back on Claire which kind of undoes the work we've been doing. We aren't there yet and we'll be continuing potty training this week, but it's going! Even my little old lady clients keep telling me this WILL end and she WILL get it. I still don't believe it.

Sometimes when Claire is sitting on the toilet, she'll quote random parts of Tangled to herself. Her favorite parts are when she meets Flynn Rider, and when she realizes she's the lost princess. So I'll be in the kitchen cleaning up and I'll hear, "Who are you, and how did you find me?" Or "Did I mumble, Mother? Or should I even call you that?" She cracks me up.

When she's on the potty, I set the timer for five minutes and walk away. Five minutes seems to be a good amount of time for her to try, and it's just worked better if she's in there alone. When she starts going she'll yell for me and say, "I'M DOING IT!!" One time while she was on, she started yelling for me. I came running, thinking it was time for the potty hat and to blow the celebratory horns, but when I walked in, she had unrolled the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper and draped it around herself like a boa. She was so happy and told me about how beautiful she looked and said, "I need more, Mom!" Later, the entire unrolled roll was crammed in the toilet and attempted to be flushed down.

Hopefully not too much longer and it will click with Claire. Until then, we'll just keep watching Christmas shows and chugging Diet Coke. I'm so grateful for the little tender mercies and funny moments of the day that I can laugh at.

Halloween.

The festivities started with a Harry Potter party at the library. They had different stations set up where the kids could make an owl, make wands, play quidditch, and have their picture taken in a castle. The girls didn't last too long, and they just wanted to play in the castle, but it was cute. Later in the week I took the girls trick or treating downtown. I loved seeing all of the kids in costume. The girls dressed up at superheros were my favorite, and the girls were a big hit at the retirement home. It was cute. We didn't get to stay long because I had an appointment that day, but it was more than enough time for the girls to get out and have fun.

Now for actual Halloween! We had a blast! It was pouring rain and I was just hoping and praying it would stop before trick or treating happened. Claire's finally old enough to know what's going on and she was especially excited about trick or treating. The girls were INSANE all day with excitement, so in the afternoon I took them to good old Micky D's to play and get their wiggles out while I gulped down some much needed Diet Coke. It was perfect.

After, we changed into costumes and headed to a friend's house for a birthday party. Ross met us there and we had fun celebrating with friends. After the party, we went trick or treating with the birthday girl. The first few houses all had dogs and the girls started to think that every house had a dog. They were into the household pets more than the candy. And honestly, what's cuter than 3 little girls all dressed up saying trick or treat the best they can? People were so nice and were scooping handfuls of candy into their buckets because they were so darn cute.

The poor thing was so exhausted she couldn't stay awake!

From The Mouths of Babes.

Claire has turned into quite the chatter box. And sometimes she says the funniest things. Here are some of my favorites from the past couple weeks, (Well, the ones I can remember. I meant to write about this a week ago):

Claire: "Mom, you're a girl."
Me: Yup, you're right.
Claire: And Aoife's a girl, too.
Me: Yup! You got it.
Claire: And I'm a boy.
Me: Nope, you're a girl too.
Claire: I'm a boy. I'm a cowboy!


Me: What would you like for lunch, Claire?
Claire: Ummmmm I just want chocolate. (Don't we all, Claire, don't we all.)


Claire was running around with her tongue hanging out of her mouth making weird noises.
 Ross: What are you doing, Claire?
Claire: Ummm I'm just being gross.


 While Ross was out of town, I took Claire with me to the doctor to take my glucose test. You chug the drink and wait an hour to draw blood. I brought Claire the iPad, a coloring book, and some bubbles. She loved blowing bubbles and everyone in the office thought she was cute. Then I had to go to the bathroom so I took her with me. When we came out, she announced to everyone in the office that, "Mom went poop in the potty." and I did "A really good job." While maybe not funny for me, everyone else thought she was a hoot. Bless her heart.

Good News!

Yesterday I met with the specialist. His partner is out of town for three weeks and he's been on his own. It made for the longest appointment EVER, but it was so worth it.

At these appointments I have a couple different types of ultrasounds done first. We check on baby to make sure she's doing well, and do some growth measurements. Then they switch tools to check my cervix, which is the most concerning.

After the tech has all of the images, the doctor comes in to look at them and have a quick chat. Then I get to put my pants back on and head into a room to do all of the vitals and get my shots. Once that's done, the doctor comes back in. He may or may not do an exam, we have a lengthy chat, and then I head to the front desk and schedule to do it all over again next week.

The ultrasounds went really well. This gal weighed 2 pounds 12 oz and is in the 27th percentile. Her femurs measured a few weeks bigger, so we'll have another tall one which is no surprise. She still loves to hang out sideways and loves my back. This isn't a problem yet and there's still time for her to move, but she had better decide she likes being upside down soon! Thanks to the steroids, her lungs looked amazing and we got to watch her breathe for a while.

The second part of the ultrasound had good news, too. The medicine is working and I'm stable for another week!

I finally gained some weight, too. Up till now I had only gained 4 pounds. But this past week Ross was gone and I went on food vacation. I gained a whopping 6 pounds in one week. I was horrified, but it's apparently a really good thing.

Doc came in for our chat. He loves that I'm still stable and I graduated to now only needing to come in every 2 weeks. And I'm done with the ultrasounds. At this point, my cervix is going to start thinning more and he's anticipating some changes. So at every appointment, he'll check me out and reevaluate from there.

Then he asked if I had any questions. "So does this mean I can get back in the gym?"  He laughed at me and said that he KNEW I was going to ask that. Even though the answer was absolutely not, we ended up chatting for a little bit about CrossFit, different workouts we liked, and what I liked doing in the gym. He said if I can hang on six more weeks and if I was still looking good, he'd let me start working out again. He admitted he was only saying that because he's betting by then I'll be so uncomfortable I won't want to work out.

I love this doctor. I'm secretly hoping I pop right around 34 weeks so I don't get transferred back to the doctor I was seeing before.

When you see a specialist, you hear about all kinds of scary things that can happen. I'm one of the most uneventful, boring cases there. Some people go through pregnancy healthy and normal with no worries or problems, and there's a big spectrum of what can happen. It really, really makes me grateful for my pregnancy "problems".  I talked to doc about that, too. Sometimes I feel ridiculous for seeing a specialist and like I'm really no big deal. He reassured me that while it's pretty unlikely I'll go into labor in the next two weeks, my situation is concerning enough that he can't ignore it and that he's betting I'll go somewhere between 32-36 weeks.

I'm so grateful this appointment went so well and that the babe looks great, because I know so many other people don't get good news like that. It's a great reminder for me when I feel like shipping the girls off to grandma's house.

MAC Thinks I'm A PRO.

Well, not really. But, a couple months ago I submitted an application for the MAC PRO Student Program. MAC has an awesome pro program, and students can get the same benefits! You get a discount on products, access to products that are only available to pro members, classes and events, and parties with different professionals in the industry to network.

Ideally I'd like to be in a higher end full service salon. I want to do it all. Not only that, but I want to be really really good at everything. So I'm always looking for additional education experiences and opportunities. Make up is one of those things that I want to be an expert on, so when I stumbled on the PRO program and asked around about the classes they offer, I decided to apply.

So much time had gone by, I thought my application had been lost or skipped over or something, but lo and behold, this past Monday my PRO card finally came! I was beyond giddy and immediately logged in to look up specialty kits, events, and classes. Unfortunately, the class in Chicago had just happened the week before.


I'm hoping the event schedule for spring will get posted soon, I'm so excited to play!

Aunt Ena.

I have so much to catch up on! this month has been CRAZY busy.

Not too long ago Ross' sister, Serena, came to visit. Next week she leaves on an 18 month church mission. She'll be serving in Tiajuana, Mexico! She was kind enough to take some time out of her crazy schedule to come to Wisconsin and visit for a few days before she goes.

We were so spoiled to be in Utah surrounded by family. Claire has a great relationship with her Aunts and Uncles, and I'm so so grateful. I think being so far away from family has been an adjustment. Thank goodness for Skype! I don't know what we'd do without it!

We picked Serena up in Milwaukee and grabbed some lunch before heading back home. We went to a farm, took the girls costume shopping, made Halloween cookies, played at the park, took delicious naps, played with puppies, took a trip to the outlet mall, and went to the zoo. And of course it wouldn't be a Wisconsin trip without ice cream.

We loved having Aunt Ena here. The girls were in Heaven and were spoiled rotten. While we were at the outlet mall, Claire was helping Aunt Ena find shirts. If I walked by too close, Claire would start to shriek, "I don't want my mommy, I don't like my mommy! I don't want my mom!" Who knew a two year old could hurt my feelings, but I'm glad these girls love their Aunt Ena.

Serena was giving her farewell talk and party the following week, so Ross and Aoife flew back with her. Claire doesn't fly free anymore, so she got to stay home with me. I took a few days off from school while Ross was gone. I loved the one on one time with Claire. It was SO different just having one munchkin at home. I actually showered, got some cleaning done, took Claire on little outings, and just enjoyed being with Claire. And I never once yelled or got frustrated.

She did much better than I thought she would, though she definitely missed her sister. She was able to Skype with Aoife a couple times. It was so sweet to see how excited the sisters were to see each other. Claire would tell Aoife about her day and ask how she was doing. Melted my heart.

When we picked up Ross and Aoife from the airport, Claire waited so patiently. When she saw them walking up, she jumped down from the stroller and ran to them screaming, "AOIFE!!!!" Then she gave her a big hug and kiss. They've been inseparable since. Despite having to go back to school and real life, it's nice to have everyone home again.

Netflix Party at The Loveland's.

 After calling my doctor with some concerning things, I was told to go to the hospital NOW. I had just finished making dinner for Ross and the littles and picked him up from work. I took it as a do not pass go or collect $200 but tuck my tail and floor it to St. Mary's. I didn't think anything was actually wrong, so I was confused why I had to book it to the hospital.

Let's just talk about the drive there for a minute.

I hadn't been to St. Mary's before, had no idea where it was. (Thank you trusty, GPS!!) It's downtown. And I have to drive through campus to get there. Lots of college students walking, some on bikes that can't decide if they want to act like a car and ride in the road or act like a pedestrian. Once you weave through the bikes and pedestrians you find out there is only one entrance to the parking garage. And you'd better not miss it because you'll be stuck on a one-way street going the wrong way. After you park, it's a hike through a maze to find labor and delivery, which isn't actually labeled 'labor and delivery'. I think it was called 'birth suites'. Very fancy.

I got admitted right away and situated. After vitals were taken, a couple doctors came in to do every test known to mankind. Up till this point, nothing super concerning was happening. I was having contractions, but they were pretty spaced and didn't hurt.

While waiting for tests, contractions picked up. The on call doctors didn't know what to do with me so they had to call the doctor I've been seeing as well as the specialist group I'll be seeing next week and coordinate between the two. In the meantime, they were coming every 2 minutes and HURT.

I ended up spending almost 7 hours on monitors. Luckily the contractions started to space out and become less intense so they didn't have to keep me over night.

I got home a little before 1 and have never been happier to go to bed in my own house in my life. A couple of the doctors were furious that the specialists had me wait two weeks for an appointment and they'll be poking the bear with a stick to get me in pronto. I'm hoping I can stay on pretend bed rest, but anything to keep this babe cooking! I really have tried to be good about staying on my royal rump. I'll cook dinner and go to class. Maybe do some dishes. The last couple days though, the girls have been so stir crazy and restless we walked across the street to the park one day, and yesterday they had a play date. I didn't think I did much, Claire and Aoife pretty much walked to and from the park themselves and I just sat on a bench while they got their energy out. I really do feel bad for them. We're pretty good at going out and exploring and playing. It's gorgeous out and they're stuck watching Mulan for the millionth time picking on each other.

I'm so grateful for science and medicine, and for the doctors and nurses. I'm especially grateful that this gal decided to stay put a while longer. Bring on the Netflix party.