Bathroom Business

It's hard to believe that this little guy



is ready for this..



But at 2 1/2 years old Noah is breaking away from diapers and doing the potty dance with the rest of the kids on the Huggies commercial. And he has the Mickey underpants to prove it. We started the training last Saturday. After having three accidents I will admit I was a little skeptical. But on Sunday he got a little better and on Monday he seemed like a pro. Now I won't say there haven't been a few glitches. If you look at the potty picture you will notice it's in the living room next to the couches. Our boy likes to do his business in the company of everyone including these guys.



Not really a big deal for us because we are home, but I am wondering how things are going to go once he is at school next week. The big numero dos is another story. Oh, he does it on the potty, but it's a pretty huge production. Were talking, "mommy sit with me and hold my hand" production. I can't say that I mind, but I am wondering who is going to hold his hand on Monday.

He is loving the rewards he is getting for doing his business on the potty. We have almost emptied a bag of skittles and he loves the lollipops. We are really proud of him and excited about this new phase of his life. Who would have thought bathroom business would be so exciting?

The Race Is On... Bring It J Cakes

After watching my husband work his.... well you get the idea from the picture below, I decided it was time that the Hickoks vacate. (Shh, about the pic... He seriously will kill me and cancel our vacation plans.)



Anyways, like I said we are outta here, packin it in, settin sail, leavin and quite honestly I can't wait. My husband works so hard and he deserves to put his feet up and relax with his wife and two boys.





I have done my research about places where we can travel with our little crew. I narrowed it down, talked to a number of "reservation specialists" and booked our plans. Can I get a "praise the Lord" on that one?! After I got off the phone with the "reservation specialist", a thought crossed my mind. It went something like this, sun, sand and bathing suit. I looked at John and made a little friendly wager with him. "We have X amount of time to get beach-body ready. Let's see who can lose the most weight before our trip." The clock is ticking and everyone who knows me knows that I don't take losing very well unless it's losing pounds and inches. So Mr. Johnny Cakes, bring it on!!

10 Months Old... Already!

Eli Benjamin turned 10 months on February 21st. What has our youngest been up to?

-army crawling.... It looks really funny too. We watch him slither on his belly and elbows all over the house collecting dog hair as he travels.

-lots of yelling. He screeches at the top of his lungs. At Noah, at me, at Finn, at John...

-blowing raspberries. He loves doing this and it drives me crazy when he decides to do it when he's eating carrots. Blowing raspberries = orange carrots everywhere.

He's wicked nosy too. He only drinks a few ounces of his bottle at a time because he wants to sit up and see what everyone is up to. He has two teeth which he got between eight and nine months but he will be getting another one soon. Mr. Eli is getting over his first ear infection, make that a double ear infection.

Noah finally gave him the thumbs up to move into his bedroom and Eli was thrilled. We love this happy guy to pieces.





Totally loving his crib!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day and normally on a Monday morning you would find me in school celebrating this day with my fourth graders, but today I am home recovering from the stomach bug and playing nurse to Eli. My valentine is at work and I can't wait until he returns so that we can enjoy a lovely evening with our two boys, two dogs and our pan of meatloaf. Thanks mom M. for starting the meatloaf tradition.

It's hard to believe that John and I will be married for 9 years this June. It may seem cliche to say this, but it does seem like yesterday that we were "formally" introduced. I say formally because I have known about The Cakes for quite some time. I grew up next to his cousin and thought John was the cutest thing ever, however; he didn't know a thing about me. When we were introduced I was in another relationship that wasn't right for me and meeting John was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I feel lucky that I get to call him my husband and blessed that he is the father of our two boys. It hasn't always been easy, but I am grateful that God brought us together. John has helped me accomplish so much in the 13 years that we have been together. He is honest, hard working, strong and caring. But best of all he knows everything about me; my faults, my shortcomings, and he chooses to love me anyways. I am looking forward to spending many more Valentine days together. Happy Valentine's Day Johnny! I love you.

Bug Bites

The Hickoks got an unexpected visitor this weekend.... the stomach bug. Can I just tell you how much I hate the stomach bug? (not that anyone likes it) It has to be the worst thing ever. Noah woke up on Saturday and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Mama, my belly hurts." So we weren't surprised when he tossed his cookies fifteen minutes later. Poor guy. I was bit by the bug a few hours later and John was soon tortured with it too. Eli is holding strong and we are really hoping that it passes over him.

Thankfully I am feeling better this morning so I can take care of this guy...



And this guy too...

24 hours!

Well, it's been 24 hours since I have been off Facebook. I am not going to deny the urge to do a quick stalk, but for the last 24 hours I have resisted temptation. I have to say that I feel pretty good about it. Don't get me wrong, I do miss it but I am proud of myself for sticking with it for 24 hours. I have already lost 5 pounds. Not exactly but I will and when I do I will be sure to post it. So what have I been up to for the last 24 hours. Well I....

slept
showered
fed my boys breakfast
loved on my dogs (Yes, I do love my dogs!)
reviewed converting customary measurements with my fourth graders
attended a meeting
chatted with friends, rather than stalking them on Facebook
ate dinner with my boys
loved on my dogs again because I do seriously love them
sent text messages to my husband (Can't tell you what they contained)
bathed my boys
relaxed on the couch

Did I mention that it has been 24 hours?

Social Networking, Not So Much...

I have been doing some serious thinking about taking a break from Facebook. This social networking thing isn't working out the way I had hoped it would. This afternoon I arrived at an appointment a few minutes early. When I sat down to wait for my service my body responded the way that it normally does when I have a free minute-I reached for my phone. I quickly realized that I left my phone in the car. Great, I thought to myself. What am I going to do for the next 10 minutes if I can't check Facebook? And then it hit me. When did I become so pathetically infatuated with Facebook? Before I signed on to Facebook, what in the world did I do with myself? Well for starters I was thinner. I wasn't sitting all night long playing bejeweled blitz and browsing through everyone else's photos. I was walking the dogs, cleaning the house (I still do this so this one doesn't really count), reading, shopping (not so sure I am going to be able to resume that activity)....

Don't get me wrong I love Facebook. Where else can you be completely nosy without anyone finding out that your being nosy?You know you love stalking too. I love being a wall post away from my family that I don't see on a regular basis and catching up with old friends has been great too. But when I weigh the benefits of Facebook I am not convinced that it always has my best interest in mind. I am sensitive, something that I never really thought I was. But my feelings get hurt really easily and to be honest I have read posts that haven't settled well with me (I am sure I am guilty of doing the same thing). And then I perseverate on that post and read it over and over until I am annoyed beyond belief. Then I get John involved and complain to him which just keeps this silly cycle going. And don't even get me started on the friend request dilemma. Questions like, should I request this person as a friend? Will they accept? If they don't accept, does that mean they don't like me? Ugh, as if making friends isn't hard enough, the people that are supposed to be your friends ignore you. Pretty pathetic! I am sure this doesn't even cross some people's minds or that it just rolls right off their back. Unfortunately it sticks with me like a new pair of Spanx.

So I think that for right now the best thing for me is break this cycle by staying off Facebook for awhile. I am not sure how long this will last or quite honestly if I have the willpower to do it. But I am willing to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes. Here goes!