listening to 'B sing

as i am sitting here, in 'her hallway' as she calls it--the side of the hallway in which i sit while she is trying to fall asleep at nap time, the side of the hallway that is visible to her eyes as opposed to the side that is visible to L, which has been rightfully deemed 'his' hallway--i can hear her singing. she sings constantly. they all 3 do. actually, we all FIVE do, but that is just the beauty of life around here. (=

'B rarely ever sings a song that is not being composed AT the moment it is being sung. which is completely incredible to give ear to. this, too, is a common trait of each member of our little 'trio'.

and so, here here, to creativity; here here to sincere JOY; here here to the freedom to think, to express yourself, to be who you TRULY were created to be, to my three little prodigies and to your little ones as well [and to ourselves, too, right?]

here here to the Maker of this ever-glorious, ever-winding, gift of life.

enjoy your days!

a-MA-zing zucchini muffin day!

today was supposed to be a-MA-zing zucchini muffin day in our household. and, as typical planned days go here in coffee and chocolate milk, it wasn't. wel, let me take that back, it IS technically still amazing muffin day (or 'nuffin' day, as L would refer to it as. my boy loves his 'nuffins'!), HOWEVER, what i intended it to be was a breakfast event. now, considering the following: [me] slightly flighty, definitely free-spirited and spur of the moment inspired + becoming a little consumed by the GORGEOUS day that was yesterday + being so comfortably sleepy by the time dishes were done and house was pre-bedtime straightened last night, i didn't get them made last night.

and the Lord knows i am NEVER going to be able to wake up one single moment before L peeks in and reminds me i might want to get A out of bed before it turns into a panic ridden rush out the door before the bus gets here kind of morning, and get things done like make breakfast BEFORE the kiddos wake up like any other normal mother would! (side note: i am comPLETely a morning person if i get OUT of bed and into the sunlit window, but getting out of bed early is a continuous challenge, although much appreciated by A, who doesn't mind the extra 20-30 min. of sleep time every morning--bless her lovely soul!)

okay, so to get back on subject here, the muffins were made around 10:30-ish this morning and will provide scrumptious breakfasts TOMORROW as well as yummy snacks today! (=

i wanted to get pictures of these, but did not get to, but i want to share the recipe. i got on to epicurious.com (a fave of mine) and found this recipe for spicy zucchini walnut muffins, and altered it NEARLY entirely (though not entirely-entirely) into this:

Whisk 2c flour, 2t cinnamon, 1t salt, 1t baking soda, 1t allspice, and 1/2t baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk 1 2/3c sugar, 2/3c canola oil, 3 eggs, 1T vanilla, and roughly 2/3 of a lemon's peel (grated).

Whisk flour mixture into sugar mixture.

Grate over bowl: 2 thin carrots and 1 med. zucchini (peeled).

Stir and pour into two 12-cup muffin tins and bake each tin for 25 minutes on 325F.

these muffins were FANTASTIC. sincerely. [or, suu-rously, as our A likes to put it!]

enjoy! (=

potty training, bleh...

so L just turned 2! the boy is my literal pride and joy. ask A2. he will shower you w/the ridiculousness of L and i's (very HEALTHY) mother-son relationship.

aside from being the apple of my eye, L happens to be extremely intelligent. now i know, EVERY mother confesses such greatness of their children. but really, i mean it. (=

the girls were both naturally ahead of the 'curve' (and continue to be) and so when we found out baby #3 was going to be a bouncing boy, all we heard was.....don't expect him to advance as quickly as the girls, expect him to be late in EVERYTHING, don't expect too much from this one, don't expect, don't expect, don't expect!!! wel, of course i 'EXPECTED' nothing less from Ro as i did from A or 'B. and what i was blessed w/was equal if not a little more advanced development from this sweetness of an existence. (chalk it up to, "children will only succeed to the point of your expectations"? nah.)

(=

ANYWAY, in accordance with everything else they did, A and 'B also potty trained immaculately. they both, a month or two before their second birthdays, decided that they were finished w/diapers. and that was it---no pull ups, no bed wetting, just underpants and a happy mama.

so naturally, when L, nearing his 2nd birthday, showed awareness of 'potty business', and the physical ability to stay dry, even during naps and bed times, we encouraged him to go on the toilet.

we bought pull ups, we bought 'big boy' underpants (with soccer balls and basketballs and baseballs on them for an added bonus), we bought [2] new potty chairs (took the first one back, kept the all-too-wonderful 'froggy potty' that sincerely looks like a fun toy chair).

we were ready.

we were ready for immediate success.

we are still ready for that success. it is now a month later and L is happy to do #1 on the 'froggy potty' when he has spent the entire day sans underpants. underpants on, however, equals a mess. we can play outside in big boy underpants w/no incident, we just cannot wear them in the house. we also cannot wear pull ups w/o an accident.

we also are completely and utterly terrified of going #2 on the potty and will do that little number ANYWHERE, on anything. as long as that thing is not the potty.

today, after 2 underpants incidents, mommy has decided that, where there is no longer any interest, and disciplining is now called for when it comes to potty-time, that we need to be ready to wait this time.

i can handle waiting. waiting is better than messes. waiting is better than feeling like a big jerk for telling a precious little boy he HAS to go in the potty when he is clearly not ready for such a consistent task.

NOW, do not take these statements as complaints. and do not take these statements as statements or decisions born out of 'giving up'.

waiting (in this case) is not giving up at all. waiting (in this case) is just that, waiting. it is giving L the time he needs to better prepare his mind for the daunting chore of breaking from whatever fantastic activity he is occupied with at any given time and walking over to the potty chair.

it is giving him the time he needs to finally be prepared to place that first #2 in the potty w/o feeling like he is losing something to the abyss that is the potty. and without feeling like he has been forced to do so.

and i am convinced, that once that first #2 has occurred, potty training will commence and my L will be ready.

i so love my boy.