Hey mommies - dress up in public?

We went to the mall today to get some new footed pajamas for the girls. I had realized that my ultra-organized box of 2T clothes still had all the footed pajamas inside, as when I pulled out the size originally, it wasn't cold enough for them. This was the first time Allison was really introduced to them when she was available to make a choice about what she wears. Since she hasn't worn footed pajamas since last winter, she didn't even realize they existed.

And boy oh boy - she loves them. She refuses to wear anything without feet! (okay, she doesn't actually get that much of a choice, but she doesn't want to wear anything without feet).

The Children's Place has great pajamas in my opinion. Most footed pajamas are so danged warm and thick - intensifying the warmth of the footed part itself to where it's too warm. But these jammies are thin and so soft. We have a bunch of 24months, but they are just too small for miss Allison now, curling her toes under until they hurt.

We made a trip to the mall for the sole reason to pick up some of these jammies. Which, I have found the 3T size actually fit Ella too. They are a little too long for Allie, but not too loose as she'll stumble over them.

Long story longer, I let the girls pick out their own clothes, as I quite frequently do. Today's pick, however, was a little different then the normal outfits. They chose to wear those big puffy skirts I depicted in this picture paired with dress up 'princess' style dresses. The dress up dresses are of a nice material, so they aren't those cheesy halloween costume type things. Actual nice dresses, just dresses with big bell sleeves and big floaty skirts. With the petticoats underneath them, they make the dresses truly look like they are right out of cinderella's closet, looking like big hoop skirts. Allison paired her look with some black punk rock boots and Ella chose some sparkly pink slip-ons.

I had no problem with their choice and allowed it. Hubby asked me if I was actually going to allow them to wear these things in public and I said "sure, why not?". I honestly have no problems with it. From the looks of things, we ended up bringing a lot of smiles to the Sunday shoppers. Lots of pointing and laughter and many people, men and women both, would come up and talk to my princesses, complimenting on their beautiful dresses.

So I ask you - do you let your children wear crazy outfits in public? How far do you let it go? What type of places would these types of outfits not be okay? Would you let them wear mis-matched things?

The Wiggles!

My girls love the Wiggles. Ella not so much anymore, but Allison is still enthralled.

A year ago, I grudgingly got tickets for the family to attend a Wiggles concert. The girls had obviously never been to a show before, so I didn't know how they'd react. It was great. And I gotta tell you, I actually had fun! It definitely surprised me, but I knew all the songs and while not my cup of tea, it wasn't all that bad. (They did serve beer, so maybe that added a teensy bit to my enjoyment). The girls, on the other hand, had nothing but fun. They even cried when the Wiggles had to go home.

I recently saw they were coming again in April. Tickets had already gone on sale so the seat selection wasn't that great - up in the side stands where we had sat before. I really wanted to get seats on the floor because it gave room for the kids to dance, which is what my girls really wanted to do.

I went to ebay and people were already selling tickets, but only in sets of 3. Dang it, I needed 4! But then a day or so later, a set of 4 went on sale. Front Row. Floor. Auction started for price paid. And I waited until the end and bid. And I got them! And I am tickled pink right now. It makes me laugh that me, the ex-punk rock girl turned mommy is excited to go see the wiggles.

But what can I say? I'm genuinely ~thrilled~. The girls are going to have so much fun.

"This was my great idea!"

My girls love to play with water. Unfortunately for them, my house is not waterproof. This little tidbit puts a big damper on their in-house water play.

I took a shower this morning and came out to find every little plastic bowl and cup they have in their kitchen set, strewn across their room, filled with water. The offender? Allison standing in the hallway with a toy watering can in her hands.

She tried to blame it on Ella but being caught red handed didn't help her argument. I turned to Ella and asked her if she thought it was a good idea to play with water in her room. She smiled brightly at me and said "This was my great idea!"

Guilty.

Potty training gone bad.

I think I jumped the gun with the nighttime training. I've had to do laundry every night except 2 or 3 times and it's not getting better. With Ella, I think I waited until she was staying dry in her pullup first and then I did it.

So, we're doing the panties under the pullup trick so she'll still be uncomfortable and we'll see how it goes. She's still doing great all day and at naps though.

And please tell me WHY my husband would put a potty training toddler in overalls? WHY?

photo album updated!

It's true! I've updated the photo album on our family's website. Since I put in those new pictures in the previous post, I decided I needed to just get it done. No more procrastination!

86 new pictures from Nov 07 to now. Check it out if you are interested!

http://www.leisherfamily.com

Sunday night bathtime

A few pictures from this evening. Strange that both kids got the same pose.

My funny girls ...


My blue eyed beauty...


My brown eyed beauty making a really sophisticated grown up pose...


Sparkling clean ...


"Check out my fruit" is what she kept saying ...


And those pictures you just saw are the exact reason I'm doing this ...


Hope everyone made their weekend worth it!

potty training, day four.

Another morning completely dry! And four days completely dry at school and home - including nap time.

We are two and two for nighttime accidents. I'm pretty happy. Oh - and last night, she did her normal thing of peeing before bed. Then getting up immediately to pee again. Then getting up immediately after that (which pissed me off for a moment) until I realized she got on the potty to poop! yay!!

(if anyone without children yet is reading this, I know it seems funny to have me talk about peeing and pooping like I talk about the weather. But believe me, it becomes such a very normal, everyday conversation topic!)

"What's a 'bad word'?"

This is a post that I can't help but put on both my blogs. I probably should be more horrified than anything about it, but what the hell.

We were eating dinner and I used the word "dumb". Ella told me that it was a bad word. So we get into the bad word conversation about saying a word vs calling someone a name, etc.

This was the well needed END of the conversation:

Me: "Ella, what is a bad word?" (looking for her child-like definition)
Ella: "Fuck."
Me: "Well, that certainly is an example of a bad word, but not what I was going for"

oh. my. god.

Potty training, day two.

Allison woke up dry! Went potty first thing and she's been dry so far.

So far, so good.

Potty training, day one.

It's time. It's time to suck it up and potty train Allison.

Although she's been going on the potty for months, she goes to school in panties and if I (or her teachers) stay on top of her, she'll stay dry all day, it's time to finish up the process.

Nighttime.

And the way I do this is just get ready to do a lot of laundry. No more pull ups. No more "just at night" diapers. Panties all the way. Make or break time. She'll wet the bed for the next few night and if she's anything like Ella, by Monday, we'll be done.

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a pre-update update. I actually started this last night (monday night) and she wet the bed in the middle of the night. She changed herself then came to get me to change the sheets. Tonight, after she went to bed, she's got up 3 times to pee in a 5 minute time period. After the second time, she asked me for a diaper and I said "no, you are a big girl now." She then got up a third time and pooped in the potty. Yup, we're well on our way.

tears.

I haven't seen my kids since Sunday night. 4 days since I've hugged them.

Good lord. Business trips can really suck. It's not worth the dinners out and nights full of sleep.

I. Miss. Them.