Weekend Recap- Errands, Eating, and the Super Bowl!

Gosh, after thinking about this weekend recap, I have realized a couple of things.

A. We ate a lot this weekend.
B. We ran A LOT of errands.
C. I watched a combined total of 2.5 minutes of the Super Bowl.
D. We ate a lot this weekend.

Friday night we did a whole lot of nothing, but I did make dinner...sour cream beef enchiladas!!! I love these and they are so easy! I will post a recipe soon!

Saturday, we woke up and headed to The Egg and I ( I am in love with that place!) for breakfast where I got a pancake to eat that was larger than my head. Soooo good!!!

After breakfast, we ran around (ok, drove) looking for a new area rug.  I have been looking for a new one ever since Luci projectile vomited over the previous on one and left us with a blank living room floor. We also stopped by the Depot and picked up some paint to touch up around our garage after we had the garage door installed. It was at the Depot that Luci saw "Santa Claus" and decided to point "her" out...loudly...repeatedly. Again, I apologize to the gray haired lady who my daughter thought was Santa (Excuse me while I bury my head for a bit). So, after the errands (and stopping at Target for some new Dora panties for the freshly potty trained girl...Luci, not me) we headed home for naptime! And yes, this Momma cashed in on her Saturday nap!!!

After naptime, Mimi and PePaw came over to visit and deliver our Valentine's Day gifts. Yes I am 26...and yes, I still get Valentine's gifts. Best. Mom. Ever. ...Not because she buys me stuff...but that she still thinks of me as her Valentine! :-)

After Mimi and PePaw left, we went back out running errands (we bought a TV and area rug...these were both purchases we have been putting off for a while) and grabbed some dinner at a new restaurant in town, Maid-Rite. The jury is still out on how I feel about it.

When we went back out for our evening errands, I let Luci have her choice of dress...Penguin pajama shirt, ruffled jeans, pink polka dot hat (a scarf was involved at some point), pink crocs, and a strand of my pearls. She was sooo ready for her modeling gig!!!

On Sunday, we woke up at went to church. After church, we went and had lunch at Sam's Club. We are really fancy like that. After Sam's Club, it was back to the house for Luci's nap, and the Momma got started on laundry and cleaning...ok Daddy helped too.

She moves around soooo much when she sleeps!

After naptime, we headed over to Mark and Quinn's for their Super Bowl Party. Quinn put out quite the spread...and instead of watching the game, I spent the evening grazing the buffet. Oh yeah, I also won the square game we played...and only watched 2.5 minutes of the game. And this is why I am awesome!!! :-))))


This is where I spent most of the Super Bowl...

Oh and here too...

Oh yeah...here too!

Oh and this is me with my Super Bowl winnings that I have no idea how I won!!! Yay me!!

Great Weekend!!!

The Potty Train

This morning while driving Luci to school, I was telling her about how proud I was that she is doing a great job potty training. She then began to ask me about the "potty train" and where was it. I tried to explain to her that it just means she is going poo poo and pee pee on the potty. She didn't like that answer and kept insisting to ride this so-called "Potty Train"! She became more and more frustrated as I tried to explain it. I finally just told her we would ride a train the next time we went to Silver Dollar City. She seemed satisfied with that answer. *Note to self: Quit mentioning the words "Potty Train"!!!!

Midweek Musings

Last night we took Luci and Brendon to Chuck E Cheese for a potty training celebration for Luci!! The kids had a blast!

Ok, and Mitch and I may have played a few games...I mean someone had to win tickets for them right?!

And another pic of Luci in a Valentine outfit! This Momma loves Valentine outfits!

How Luci Got Her Name

Many people that have known me most of my life probably know how Luci got her name. People I have met recently or in the last 7 years may not know. Some people give their children family names, biblical names, friend names, or just names they simply like. We did none of that (Although Luci's middle name is just a name we both liked!). Luci was named after Lucille Ball. Luci's name is not short for Lucille. We just named her Luci.So, how did Luci get that name?

In December of 1993, my family moved in with my Nana and Nandad (he passed away shortly after we moved in) while our house was being built just down the road from them. Nana had an old tv in the back room that only got a handful of channels and I started watching it some. There was a show that came on called I Love Lucy...It was the first show I really ever watched that was in black and white (gasp!). I fell in love with it! I watched it all the time. From then on, I watched every episode, recorded episodes, bought the VHS tapes and later on DVD's. My family bought me all sorts of fun Lucy stuff for every occasion or simply just because. I dressed up as her on Favorite Character day at school, I wrote book reports about her, and eventually visited (twice!) the Lucy tribute museum in Universal Studios in Florida.

Lucy was such a fun part of my childhood/teenage years. It only made sense to carry on a little bit of that into my daughter. Mitch knows how much I love Lucy and was all for naming our daughter after Lucille Ball...not because he necessarily loved Lucille Ball himself, but he knew how much I loved her.

Why didn't I spell Luci like Lucy...well, I just simply like the "I"!

So, our dear, sweet daughter...she is simply named after my favorite red-headed comedian!!


Me with "Lucy" and "Desi" at Universal Studios... I believe this was taken in June/July 2000.

Me with "Lucy" at Universal Studios in July 2004.

One of my most prized Lucy possessions! It is a musical billboard!

Some of my pics!

Some of my memorabilia!

Oh I guess I didn't mention...Luci's playroom is the Lucy room at our house!!! :-)

I love Luci...and Lucy :-)))))

Weekend Recap- Disney Live!

Friday night, Luci and I visited my sis and her fam while we were waiting to pick Mitch up at the airport (He was in San Diego all last week). After picking Daddy up, we came home to rest up for the next day!!

We left Fort Smith on Saturday mid-morning to head to Broken Arrow/Tulsa for Disney Live! "Santa" brought Luci these tickets for Christmas! We went to the performance with Mitch's sisters, mom, and our 3 nieces. Everyone had so much fun!! The show was divided into 3 segments...Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald narrated the shows! Luci and her cousin Miss A were a little scared of the "wicked witch" in Snow White...and a little bit scared of the "Beast" in Beauty in the Beast, but other than that (and the fact that Luci had to go potty 3 times during the show) they had so much fun watching the performances!!!

I have some talented sis in laws! Meri made all the girls adorable Minnie Mouse shirts to wear to the performances! Mandy made the girls matching bows!!! I'm glad I have talented sister in laws (and a sister!) because this Momma does not have a crafty bone in her body!

Luci showing off her outfit!

Luci was so excited about her Mickey crown!

It was so hard to get a pic of us!

All the girlies in their matching outfits (well, Kaylee had her polka dot peace sign!)

After the show, we all went out to eat for a family dinner!!

After brunch on Sunday, we drove back to Fort Smith, visited a little with Kerri, did 80 loads of laundry, and got a little Olive Garden take out for dinner!!! We had such a great weekend!! We are back in Broken Arrow next weekend for Mr. C's first birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Her Own Time

Luci has always done things in her own time. When I was pregnant with her, she would never kick when we wanted her to. I was in labor with her 16 hours and pushed for almost 2 hours. She was perfectly content with where she was and would come when she was good and ready. I started saying then that this kid was going to be stubborn. No clue where that came from...because I don't have a stubborn bone in my body. Must be her Daddy. :-)

I have never thrown out unrealistic expectations for her. I just didn't feel it was necessary. I never put a specific time on her to start or stop doing anything. Now obviously I knew that one year old was a good time to stop the bottle...two years old was a good time to stop the paci and start potty training...but I never really had any specifics.

I cut out Luci's afternoon bottle when she was 11 months old and a week or so later she just refused the bottle in general. No biggie.

The paci however was a different story. You can click here to read about our paci adventures.We had 2 or 3 different occasions where we tried to take it away and just found out, she wasn't ready. It was that simple. She wasn't ready. In her own time, she became ready...and with a little encouragement, it was fine. So, she was 2 years and 3 months when her paci's went bye-bye.

Now potty training... Luci has had a dry diaper/pullup overnight for months. Months. Anytime Luci peed or pooped, she would bring me a diaper, wipes, and the cream and lay down to be changed. She has been ready to be in panties for a while. But, it just wasn't her time.

We have struggled with her not wanting to poop in the potty forever. She would have times where she was doing great with using the potty and then she just wouldn't use it at all. I finally just gave up, put her back in pull-ups, listened to the advice of a good friend, and reflected back on her prior behaviors. In her own time. 

Guess what? All of sudden, she just magically started using the potty. Not only was she using the potty, but she was letting us know when she needed to go. I have always said, she is the one being trained, not me. I don't have time to ask her 15 million times a day if she needs to go potty. I work all day so there is no time for drinking lots of water and making her go sit on the potty every 10 minutes. None of those were for us.

Yes, I was/am tired (still tired) of hearing people say "Well, my kid was basically potty trained out of the womb," and then getting that look that perhaps I was doing something wrong. Blah, Blah, Blah. Well, good for you. However, that isn't going to make my kid train any faster. Having the personality I have, I always want to be scheduled, always want things to happen when they are supposed to, etc. Well, you know what I've learned? I can't make her "be ready" for anything sooner than she wants to be. It's not about me. And you know what, that's ok.

She is doing great right now with pooping and peeing in the potty, and we are excited! I am so glad that I just let it go, removed the pressure, and just let her be ready when she wanted to be ready. It has made for a happy family all around!

Our little girl is growing up...in her own time.

Dear 2 Year 8 Month Old Luci

Luci,

First of all, I want to tell you how much we love you. Your daddy and me are crazy about you and love everything about you. Even your sass. Which these days, we see quite a bit!!!

What are you doing now?

You love to play with your babies! Your favorite baby right now is a baby your Aunt Quinn gave you which you have so creatively named, "Mommy Baby". :-) 

You love to color and play with stickers.

You love to help Mommy cook or fold laundry.

You love to play outside.

You do great playing by yourself. It is so fun to just step back and watch you play. You are so busy all the time!!

You love to watch Dora, Mickey Mouse, and Veggie Tales! It is so cute to hear you sing the Veggie Tale song!

You love to read books and sing!

You know your ABC's and can count to ten. You can count higher than 10, but 10 is consistent!

You love to say prayers. Every time you have a boo boo, you always ask Mommy to pray for you!

You love band aids. You usually have one on all the time...whether there is an actual injury or not.

You love your cousins and talk about all of them often!

One of you favorite things to do is "facetime" people!!

You love to eat cheese, cottage cheese, and applesauce! Those are your favorite foods!

You are so inquisitive and ask so many questions!

At this point, you are well on the road to being completely potty trained!

You are wearing 2T clothing...but some of the 2T pants are getting short on you!

You love jewelry and make-up...lipstick (chapstick) is your favorite thing to put on!

You have started stuttering some when you talk. We have been told it is because your brain is in overdrive (and you will outgrow it). I believe it! You love to talk and tell Mommy and Daddy all sorts of stories. You talk and talk and talk. I know you take after me. Daddy just looks at you and smiles and lets you talk and talk...just like he does with Mommy!

Mommy and Daddy's baby girl is growing up and we love you soooo much!!! Always know Jesus loves you and so do we!