What Do You Do When You are Snowed In in Pittsburgh?

Call me crazy, but I barely/rarely watch the news. However, I knew we were to get a bad storm from my family who all know I don't watch the news and called/emailed me. (Thanks guys!) Jay and I cancelled our plans to go away this weekend, as we would have been driving on the turnpike into the worst part of the predicted snowfall.

Friday afternooon the flakes started falling. And they were enormous! The biggest flakes I have ever seen, measuring around 3/4 of an inch. The snow was accumulating fast, and I had an overwhelming desire to not leave the house. Last I had heard, we were to get 4-7 inches. Between Friday afternoon and Saturday late morning, we had aproximately TWENTY inches of snow!

So, the question remains...what do you do when you are snowed-in in Pittsburgh? You start potty-training!

I have been dreading this process almost since I found out I was going to be a mom. Potty training just seemed to be an insurmountable task. However, with the third birthday just around the corner and nothing to do and no where to go this weekend, we started potty boot-camp.

I think this pictures sums up our weekend well. Kids ate all of their meals on their potty chairs, while watching movies or one of us reading to them; clorox wipes on stand-by; dining room table turned into a fort; couches and chairs lined with towels; extra undies strewn all over the living room.

 

Jonathan had an excellent weekend. He has been peeing on the potty for about 1 year, but never super consistently. He had 2-3 accidents, but by Sunday he would announce "I have to pee" and would put himself on the potty and take care of business, with no assistence from Jay or I. In fact, he was doing that when we weren't even in the room. I think he has 20-25 stickers on his sticker chart. He has done so well we kinda stopped counting.

Faith has obligingly sat on the toilet for hours! to no avail. Nary a drop out of that girl. She isn't upset to sit on the potty, doesn't seem to mind the schedule interuption, loves her minnie mouse and princess underware....she just hasn't done anything yet. Only 2 accidents for her this weekend. The rest of the time she held it until her nap pull-up.

No #2's from either, yet.

I guess we will keep plodding along this week. If Faith hasn't made any progress by the end of the week, we will have to start again at another time. But Jonathan seems ready, willing and able.

In other growing up news, I packed up their booster chairs and they now sit in regular chairs at the dining room. And Faith no longer needs her bed rail. Amazing! The only "gear" we have in our house now is 1 bed rail, and 2 potty chairs. That is it! Astounding.

My Little Snow Bunny

Faith and I spent some time walking through the neighborhood this morning while Jonathan and Daddy went to Mimi's to fix her computer and shovel her out. Faith is very tough when it comes to snow and being cold. She ate her body weight in the cold, white stuff (after a short discussion on not eating yellow snow) and her cheeks were red from all the "ice cream snow" she was eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snowed In

Some of these photos are out of order, but I am sure you can tell which ones are before we started shoveling the 20+ inches of snow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conversations With Jonathan

Jonathan: "Mommy, when I am three, will I be a man?"
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Jonathan: "Mama, what did you just do?"

Me: "I had to give Miss Amy some jewelry that was broken so she could return it and get it fixed. Does that make sense to you?"

Jonathan: "Yes."
Jonathan, a minute later: "Mommy, do you see those houses with garages? Those garages are rectangles! Does that make sense to you?"
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And my favorite:
Jonathan: "I love you so much mommy!"

We Have a Winner!

 

 

 

Leave a Comment For a Chance to Win "IT'S ME!"

At age 2 1/2, Faith has developed a preference for a few things...there are the pink and purple "special blankies," her favorite stuffed animal (goofy) who she calls "babydoll puppy," and last but not least, the wonderfully imaginative book "IT'S ME!"

"IT'S ME!" is a delightful story about a spunky little girl named Patricia, who dresses-up and pretends to be a princess, a witch, and her mommy.  "IT'S ME!" features a companion "book-on-cd" which we have listened to on our daily travels countless times. The story is so fresh and sweet that I don't even mind obliging the kids' requests for it!

Having listened to the cd several hundred times, Faith has completely memorized the book. The pictures below are of her "reading" the book to her great-grandma.

Eric Drachman, the author of "IT'S ME!" is sending me a signed copy to give away to one of my fortunate readers! All you have to do is leave a comment for me on this post, and a random winner will be selected by Faith! Bonus entry for linking my post to your blog (just be sure to leave me a comment that you are!)

Additional Eric Drachman books can be found here.

We own all five books, and in an email I begged Eric to quickly write another to add to our collection. The quality of the cds are excellent, and really add another dimension to story time.

Eric, thank you so very much for using your talent to write such wonderful books, and for the signed copy to give away! We are indebted to you!

Watch Faith Recite "IT'S ME!"

Remember, you must leave a comment to be eligible to win!

Pray For Me

Faith has been having a very difficult couple of weeks. She feels grouchy most of the time, and clearly says "I am cranky/sad, etc."

Jay has bronchitis but is improving; Jonathan is pretty much better from his cold/fever/sleepwalking, but oh my is Faith having a rough time. She has been in bed at 6:30 the last two nights because she was so miserable, and has skipped naps all week long. The amount of screaming she has been doing harkens back to the newborn days, and there is a lot of stress in our house right now.

This morning, after visiting BounceU, where Faith vascilated between being joyful and miserable, I asked her, "Faith, what can I do for you?"

Without hesitating, she replied "Pray for me."

"Pray for you? What should I pray for?"

"For me not to be sad."

Smart little girl. We prayed in the car, and when we got home I told them we were going to have play time in their rooms. They played in their own rooms for an hour, then we had lunch, watched a short show and off to naps they went. Without crying! Thank you God, for the power of pray!