Today we reached another milestone in the potty journey...(the title of the book should give you a clue). After an especially EXUBERANT potty dance, Mimi and I went to play in her room. As I reached under her bed to find a missing block, I pulled this book, from under her bed. I haven't seen it in ages! I would call that a potty miracle. I felt like the "potty gods" were smiling down on us.

Just had to share. Of course we read it right away...seven times.

Potty Time!

We've officially entered the world of Potty Training!!! Wow. It's interesting.

I've tried hard not to hype it up too much in my head, but I definitely felt intimidated by the whole thing. With other parenting moments/challenges, I leaned on my experience from babysitting or teaching to get me through...but I've never potty trained anyone before, so I've got nothin' for this one. But, so far, so good. We're just doing what feels right at the time and giving Mims lots of naked time with her potty near. When she actually goes in it, I think we're all surprised!!!! :) She's getting pretty great at just sitting down on her potty and going!!!! Then, at that moment, the whole house explodes into the POTTY DANCE!!!! (and it's not faked, I really am bursting with disbelief and enthusiasm every time). Then she proceeds to pick some stickers out and proudly stick them on her sticker chart (I, to this day, still remember MY sticker chart..I could tell you exactly what stickers were on it. I think Mimi's is just as important to her!)

Every step is a step closer to being diaper free!!!!! We will keep you posted.

Life Is Good

Life is good when you are almost two and get a whole Strawberry Milkshake cupcake to yourself.

Friends, Friends, and Dogs (Who Are Friends)

Ben's Godmother and great, long-time family friend (and coolest, former art teacher, fashionista, gift-giver) Patty Fink was in town last week. Oma and Patty came over for coffee and pastries (and a great round of show-and-tell and dancing, provided by Mimi). We had so much fun.


We knew it was time for business when the cowgirl boots and the tutu went on...

Patty bought Mimi the CUTEST outfit ever, and I am not lying that I went on gap.com to see if there was one for adults just like it. It's the cutest little bohemian top with wide arms and some little jean shorts (among other things). Thanks for spending time Patty. We are excited to see you soon in Captiva!!!!

(to counteract the "squinty smile" I've started to tell me to "show me your teeth!"...this is the product of that photographic coaching...we're getting there! and it's cute either way.. ;)

Then, last Saturday night we dog-sat Griff and Daisy, B.T. and Oma's dogs!!!! Of course, it was a dream come true for Mims.

and they're off!

AND AFTER THAT...

We got a text saying that the Swansons were in town!!!!! What a fun surprise!!!! Mimi and I were able to drive to Lakewood to see Judy, Abby and Brynn at Judy's mom's home. Mimi played in the grass with Brynn (so sweet!) while Abby, Judy and I ate pastries and drank coffee and iced tea and caught up. THEN, we got to steal Abby away and be with her longer while Judy had lunch with family in Boulder. Of course I cried later that night after we left them because:

a) I hate that we live so far away (and were supposed to live in Boston with them at one time)

b) because Abby and Brynn were so super sweet with Mimi and Mimi loved being with them-just like we do.

c) Abby is so so grown up and is more like a peer than someone I used to babysit. And I was so proud of who she was turning into and how she strong she was about sticking up for what she is about...

d) I love getting to have great talks with Abby about her life, and love getting to talk to Judy as a mom mentor/friend about marriage, motherhood, faith and life

and because...

e) Abby (and eventually Brynn) would be WONDERFUL babysitters!!!! (the last one is purely selfish :)

Here are the few pictures we took:

Brynn and Mimi...now

and THEN! (remember this from our Boston trip when Mimi was just a bean!?)

Abby and I

Mimi, raiding Judy's mom's toys

We love the Swansons so much....

Our time is always way too short. :( But we always feel super lucky any chance we have to be with them.

Maybe there will be a Boston trip in our future...?

My Little Conversationalist

Mimi right now...where do I begin? I just want to bottle up these days before she turns two because she is just so funny. I can't tell you how many times a day Ben and I exchange looks over her head after she says something that we just can't believe. Life with her is just one big conversation. She really likes talking about stuff we've already done (anything that happened in the past is "last morning"..regardless if it was a month ago or last night). She also gives me a running commentary on anything she sees or hears: airplane sounds, a dog out the window, kids playing. She's done this for awhile, but now it's more like sentences with descriptive words. She also has her old standby "catch phrases" / conversation starters that she will pull out from time to time. Like, "the movie theater was so so dark" (talking about when we went to the movies ages ago).
Another fun treat lately is how she's breaks out into song (some made up, some known. I prefer the made up ones myself). She also has watched Angelina Ballerina once or twice and has picked up some great dance moves. At a pizza place today during a Pearl Street lunch with Ben, we found ourselves sitting near a huge, tilted mirror, which proved to be a wonderful place for a spontaneous dance recital of one. She is also very concerned lately with nakedness- being naked, who's naked, and she especially now thinks that anything without clothes is naked. (Elmo and her stuffed animal pluto is her latest).

Here are some pictures of her with her new cell phone and keys from Patty Fink's visit.





Before we walked out the door one day, she insisted that she take her new cell phone and keys. All that went through my mind during the 10 minute search was, "Are you telling me that now I have to look for two sets of keys and two cell phones every time we leave the house?!" At least they make noises and talk if you accidentally step on them, which makes her much easier to find :)

Playdates

Mimi has officially entered the world of "Playdates." We have a sweet little girl who lives next door named Kira. She is five. When we moved in, we were childless, so we were of no use to her. Then, I remember being pregnant and her mom talking about how someday our girls could play together. I would nod and smile and think, "probably not! That's so far away!" Little did I know how fast that day would actually creep up!

Mimi and I have walked around our fence to their backyard to join Kira in her little pool a few times this summer. And, Mimi has invited herself into their house on more than one occasion to play with Kira's toys (she has a playroom the size of ChuckE Cheese in her basement- or "bay-sum" as Mimi calls it)

The other day, I told Mimi and Kira that Kira could come over to OUR house. I said it casually and in an off-handed way, but the MINUTE Mimi woke up, she was demanding to see Kira. After I called Kira's mom to invite her daughter over, it was taking some time...(like 5 minutes!) Mimi was BESIDE herself...she was walking to the front door, looking out, crying out Kira's name : "MY KIRA!!!!" she kept saying. It was painful to watch!!!! Her little friend couldn't come over fast enough. I actually had to call her mom again and make sure they were definitely coming over, or else Mimi was going to lose her mind!

When she finally did come over (again, in like 5 minutes) Mimi was in heaven. Ben and I sat by and eavesdropped on their conversations, giggling to ourselves at the sight of Mimi having her own friend. It was really sweet.

"WISCONSIN...2010!"

...Probably not something that you'll see printed up on a tee-shirt, or shouted from a car of college students on Spring Break, but that became our catch phrase of our trip to Wisconsin to see my Grandparents. We just got back (they live in Lac du Flambeau, on the Indian Reservation. It was just outside of Minocqua, Wisconsin.) It was great fun.

I was excited to go back to the place that I spent some great childhood memories at; to show them off to Ben and Mimi. Our crew going grew to include Gabe, my cousin from Iowa who now lives in Colorado Springs. He added to the fun :)

I had a checklist in my head of things I was excited to do: play cards- Check! lay out on the dock by the lake- Check! Take Mimi to the Lac du Flambeau hometown parade- Check! Get lots of cute pics of my Grandparents with Mimi- Check and CHECK! :) Not that life should be a checklist, but we did everything I was hoping to do (and then some)

We first flew into Milwaukee, then rented a car to drive 4-5 hours up to where they live. I had really tried to be a prepared as possible for the long day of travel with Mimi. The last time that she was on a plane, she was three months old! For a couple weeks before the trip, I started shopping for little toys and activities that I could pull out to occupy her. It was actually sort of fun; it felt like shopping for Christmas. Since she is so into Toy Story right now, I found some fun little things that she liked to play with and visit at Target. I packed her little pink backpack and pulled stuff out as needed (keeping some other stuff a secret for the trip back).

Mimi was okay on the plane, but it was work to keep her happy and quiet. I'm convinced that an airline employee should be standing outside of the gate when parents get off, handing out medals and high fives-at least I felt like I deserved one after both of our flights. It's hard not to resent the people who get to just sit and read a magazine to pass the time. I was so thankful for Ben though; we definitely put the "team" in team turrill on the trip, that's for sure. We're definitely stronger for weathering the parenting storms together :) It was nice to look next to me and him and realize that he knew EXACTLY what I was feeling and going through because he was feeling it too!

After getting off the plane, we loaded up a tired toddler into a rental car and drove for the rest of the day. It ended up taking a lot longer because we hit traffic (and made a few stops for Wendy's, bathrooms and parks). Ben drove, Gabe was the passenger, and I was on "mom duty" in the backseat with Mimi. After she had finally fallen asleep in the car, and everything was peaceful, I journaled this:

Traveling with a toddler: Best part was the anticipation..buying her treats and keeping them as surprises.. Feeling elated at small victories: getting a hapy toddler onto the parking lot shuttle bus, having our bag be EXACTLY 50 lbs (after removing some stuff of course), doing security successfully. Trial: from the start, mimi not wanting me to sit in MY seat with her (MY seat, where I was supposed to be holding her for a good 20 min. of 'seatbelt sign' time...my new most hated word.) she screamed and squealed, but eventually fell asleep, then was calmed by her multiple tricks/games/coloring things...thank you Target One spot! Then came the drive (and the news that if we wouldve flown into minn. We wouldve only had an hour and a half drive!! Argh!) mimi was hot, sticky from her multiple treats, snotty and exhausted. A perfect recipe for a happy car trip! ;) We had a frantic search for wendy's (and two exits and drives later, we found one) But in the midst, we laughed, thanked the LORD for our new DVD player! Had good talks, made friends with locals, played in a random pak in Portage, Wisconsin, made fun of the funny accents and such. In the end (or now) I learned that an open window helps to lull an overly tired toddler to sleep. Now we can soak in some quiet, while searching outside of the passing scenes for lightning bugs.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Here's our travel pics:

Mimi, sitting "by herself" on the shuttle bus. I should've seen that as a sign of things to come for the plane ride. She already has her own seat for the next plane trip to Disney, thank goodness.

Our bag, weighing in at exactly 50 lbs...(the limit for $20)

Mimi, commandeering OUR seat on the plane...
Me, congratulating our little family after surving the flight (since there wasn't anyone else there to do it!)

Mimi and a great sucker that saved us for many parts of the trip!


We got into the Flambeau around 10 at night, munched on some cheese curds, then went to sleep.



The next morning, we awoke to Grandpa's 1955 Ford, that he was polishing up for the 4th of July parade! I couldn't stop taking pictures of it becuase it was so pretty...(and such a good spot for an impromptu photo shoot!) :)

The boys hitting golf balls into the lake

we taught Mimi how to do "he loves me, he loves me not..." Then, when I was doing something she didn't like later, she said: "I don't love you!" Woops! I wished I hadn't given her that language...! It was a flash into the teenage years!

Playing computer games with Grandma

Mimi, enjoying her treat of Lucky Charms! a.k.a. "Sweet treaties"

Golfin' with the boys..

Beware of random "cousin pop-ups".in these pictures..
What I love best about visiting Grandma and Grandpa and going on the reservation, is that we are related to EVERYBODY! Good thing I wasn't up there looking for a husband! ;) Anytime we run into someone, we quickly find out that we're cousins. It's really cool, considering I live in the same town as some of my cousins, but we never see each other out. The other thing is that many of our family members are named "Gilbert." So that became a running joke too. We went to a party someone was having and after talking to a man who was my cousin for awhile, I asked what his name was..."Gilbert" he said! It was hard for Ben and Gabe to keep a straight face...)

A cousin...named...yep, you guessed it! Gilbert!


Another best part about Grandma and Grandpa's house: DONUTS!

The day we spent on the lake:

Aunt Jackie and Mimi looking at Mimi's adopted crawfish...she named them "Mister Potato Head" "Story" and "Little Baby One"...the girl has a knack for naming things, if I do say so myself!

Grandma and Grandpa are on a war memorial in town...Grandma is the only woman! You Go Girl!

Mimi passed the time driving in and out of town by reading Aunt Jackie and Grandma's tabloids...

The view outside G & G's house...just simply beautiful.

Four generations of girls...

Mimi and Nana in matching dresses!

Grandpa took us on a drive through the reservation...this was a sign telling all about the Ojibwe and how the reservation got it's name. I think I appreciated the history more this time. We missed out on the traditional pow wow, but hearing all of Grandpa's commentary on everything was really great. Even though Gabe and I are only 1/32nd Native American, being up on the reservation makes it feel closer to us than that (again, especially when we see all of our Indian cousins!)

The Ojibwe traditionally put little houses over their graves. They also leave meals on the graves of their loved ones. Grandpa told us a story of a man questioning an Indian about leaving food on the grave of his wife: "When does your wife come and eat this food?" The man asked. "At about the same time that your wife comes and smells her flowers..." He replied. Good point! Well-played... :)

We were able to visit the graves of a lot of our family members at this cemetary as well.


Driving onto the sacred grounds...

A sweat lodge

One night we all took a walk. Grandpa gave Mims (and Barbie) a piggy back ride. He also sang a marching song for her!

FOURTH OF JULY
My Grandpa is a very proud Marine veteran. He was in the Korean War and was part of a very significant event (The Chosen Few on the Frozen Reservoir). He marches in the parade each year. We also video taped him talking about his experiences while we were up, because I wanted it to be documented. We are so proud to call him our Grandpa!

local kids on bikes...

Mimi's 4th of July dress:

(I'm trying really hard to remember to NOT say "SMILE!" when I am taking her picture, because this is what I get!):

Grandpa's truck in the parade

Elisa, a cousin (carrying the sign)

(Steve Farmilant, also a cousin)

Mimi and Aunt Jackie,

a picture at G & G's house...just cute. We thought we saw a little bit of Mimi in there...

On the night of the 4th, we drove back into Flambeau. We walked into the casino for a bit and Mimi met a little boy. They started playing (and comparing Crocs) and within 5 minutes were walking down the hallway by themselves holding hands!!!

He was leading her to the toy machines...

It was pretty sweet. His name was Trey and he was there with his family from Chicago. We ended up spending WAY too much in that machine trying to get a stuffed animal...even more than in the slots!


So the 4th of July goes down pretty different on an Indian reservation apparently. Gabe and Ben bought armfuls of fireworks that we couldn't get in Iowa or Colorado. Then, proceeded to light them off, in the parking lot, NEXT TO THE FIREWORKS STORE, like the rest of the town! One night they lit stuff off of the dock at G & G's that I'd only see at big fireworks shows. Mimi's coin phrase of the trip was that she wanted to "blow stuff up." Lovely.

Then, on the actual 4th, we likened the atmosphere on the reservation to anarchy. You could barely see because the smoke was so thick. People were lighting stuff off like crazy! Kids, adults, you name it. We were at a party at a cousin's house, and people just started lighting stuff off right next to Mimi and I (and a bunch of parked cars!) Stuff that moved and spun! It was all pretty crazy and pretty fun. Definitely a memorable 4th of July. As my cousin (not distant, but the one I actually traveled with) pointed out, it was pretty ironic celebrating a country that took the Indian's land ON a reservation...hmm. Well, anything for an excuse to "blow stuff up" I guess. :)

The best part of our trip was obviously getting to spend so much time with Grandma and Grandpa. Even if we weren't doing anything, it was just fun to be with them. I think that Grandpa is in most of the pictures because Grandma was always making us yummy things to eat: potato salad, ribs, coleslaw, cranberry sauce, etc...

On Friday night we had a fish fry of Walleye and Sheephead...it was WONDERFUL. Apparantly every Friday night is "Fish Fry Night" up in northern Wisconsin. I would move there because of that.


Here are some sweet pictures of Mimi and Grandpa time:

Mimi and Grandma on our last day.. :( You can tell that Mims is sad to leave!

On the 4ish hour drive back to Milwuakee, we stopped at the famed, Lambeau Field and had lunch. I became a Packers Fan for the day...

Here's my little traveler, with her backpack of goodies:

With Gabe :)

Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa. You are so special to us! We will be back soon! (But not too soon...I'm sure that you need time to recoop from our visit! ;)