Rice Family

So, E has not miraculously turned into a toilet using toddler, but...he is eager to use the toilet/potty chair. A big upside is that - instead of being diaperless most the day, sitting on the potty chair most the day, randomly sitting, not potty-ing, etc - E actually told me he had to go "boop" (mind you, this includes potty) and so I put him on the toilet. Amazingly he MADE himself go - not just it happened , but he actually sat there for a while and made himself go (with intentional effort). This is most definately a good sign. Not to mention, he did it again today. I am VERY excited. Diaper free might not be too far off.

Ok, so I read a blog about little girl hairstyling (looking for cute idea for M for xmas) and found she used some curlers to make cute curls on her daughter. I looked up the curlers to see how much they are and they were $25-30. More than I was willing to spend -even on ebay. But then I found these curlers , which are the same thing as far as I can tell - only a different name - for far cheaper from an ebay seller from China. They got here yesterday - a full 2 weeks earlier than the earliest estimated delivery date...I think it only took 1 week to get here, which was faster than some of the stuff I ordered in the US. Anyway - they were really easy to use, and the curls turned out cute, if I do say so myself!

This week was my birthday (on Sunday). I am now 26 and don't feel a day over 20 ;) !! For my birthday I chose Ice Skating - we have never been before. It was a lot of fun, fairly entertaining, and now my arms hurt like crazy! No one ever told me how much work it would be to hold a kid up to ice skate!! They loved it though, and it was fun. Plus ice cream cake - which I get every year. Justi gave me a birthday date including babysitting (her of course), so John and I went to dinner and a movie, and some shopping. It was great! On the M side of things: apparently she is going to marry Mathew, and she is going to move in with Cara and Gillian! new devolopments, of course. However, she has specified that she WILL come back to me. She will go to Cara & Gillians, then go to Mathew's, and then come back to me, and keep doing that over and over. She did suggest we all move into Megan's, but...well I don't know if that will be happening or not... :) And not to l

E has been showing some more interest in using the toilet lately; actually wanting to take his diaper off and sit on the toilet. Just for a week or so now - but today I decided to bring out the potty chair and see what happens. I was pretty doubtful that anything would actually come of it today - I was told by my Anat and Phys teacher that babies don't actually have physical control over the muscles that stop or start peeing until they are two - which E will not be in February! E ran around today, most of the time diaperless, spending a lot of time on the potty chair - with no outcome. But he loved it! He was so proud to be sitting there, and even was excited for me to take pics...and disappointed when I stopped. Everytime he got on he would say "boop" which, fairly obviously, means poop. It was cute, and fun, M even getting in on it and encouraging him, and helping him. After putting his diaper on him, he then did his business pretty directly. A little after J got home h

For those of us who procrastinate, it doesn't get easier than Shutterfly - and those of you who know me well (or know me at all) you know I am a procrastinator...it seems to run in the family, for that matter. Except for you know who! I love to give and receive Christmas cards - but I never get them done. After Megan, Erin and Aunt Nancy were sending out such wonderful ones, I had to know thier secret. (I would like ot admit I LOVE Erin's handmade ones, but the pieces do start to fall apart, and then I have only parts of a card instead of a whole one, and they are typically late...but I digress...) After divulging their secrets, I am now a Shutterfly fan. And so, Christmas cards will be done and sent this year (like last year, thanks to Nancy). I am actually excited for which ones I'll use, with so much to choose from, like all these . Not to mention the fact that I always look forward to Christmas, and I love to receive all the different cards - which are most defina