Valentine's Shmalentine's

In all my efforts to establish fun, long lasting traditions, I think the only real success I have ever had is in, of all the holidays, Valentine's! Every year we eat heart shaped pizza (Papa Murphy's, we are your biggest fans), on heart shaped plates, with heart napkins and placemats. We have heart shaped (or at least they are sorta heart shaped) pancakes for breakfast, and we eat a romantic dinner on the floor by candlelight in front of the fire place with champagne flutes filled with pink soda. It really might be one of my favorite holidays! And so little preparation is involved, hardly any money (those pizzas are $6.99!), it is clearly just my kind of holiday all around (plus, who can turn down pink and white peanut M&M's!?).

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And the Sun came out in Oregon

So it is a rainy, nasty, thoroughly typical Oregon day today, but just a few breaths earlier it was a gloriously warm/sunny week and we had to get out every possible SECOND that the sun was out. It was soo fun, though I got some serious spring fever and now the rain is more painful than ever! Anyway, in order to stave off my despair from the loss of Vitamin D, I am browsing through my pics of our special Oregon in February week and thought you might want to enjoy the memory of the sun with me:

Potty Training Woes

So for the sake of peer pressure and really no other reason, I decided to forgo my sanity for a spell and potty train Caden. Things have NOT gone swimmingly as I am just so busy I end up putting a diaper on him and moving on with my life. He is pretty hilarious about it though. He loves to sit on the toilet, get the whole family excited (the kids are as into this as anyone), and ahh to spin the TP roller and flush the toilet is truly a highlight in this little man's life. BUT, despite all he's apparent heroics on the toilet (he pees and poos on demand while sitting on the pot), unless I am there to enforce the pot as the potty alternative, he will matter of factly pee/poo anywhere and everywhere he has to go. "Mom, I went pee pee on the floor." Not even a sad, guilty face. Just a "mom, I wet. Pee Chair." Really? We now go through a whole routine of all the places he's pee'd or poo'd by asking him: "Caden, do we go potty on the coffee table? Noooo.... Do we go potty in the garage? Nooo....do we go potty in our highchair?" Finally, after listing the OH, 26 places he has peed, I ask him "Where do we go potty?" and he is SOOO excited to say "IN THE TOILET!" So cute, if only it actually meant something to him! BUT, just think...if I can get him potty trained it will be the last giant box of Costco diapers I will EVER have to buy!! I am willing to wipe up pee off my bar stools for the 4th time in one day, if it means I may never ever have to do that again!! :) Course, ask me how willing I am to pay for diapers if this oblivious pee strike continues for too much longer and even the strongest of us can break...

My New Hair

So after poling some of my friends and family, I went for a new look today. My mom wanted me to email her pics and since I haven't updated my blog in oh, 2 months I thought I'd kill two birds! Oh, and that is a LIGHT fixture coming out of my nose in the 2nd picture in case you were wondering... Levi took the pictures, so I can't be too picky. :)