Christmas

I do not think it is any secret that I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! There is so much about it that I love, but one of the things is the wonder and excitement of the kids.  I love that they are all believers. (not sure how long that will last-or how long I should let it last) but to be honest I am in no hurry.  Their excitement about Santa is exhilirating!

I am grateful this year I was able to capture all of them with the big man.  Cannot believe it has already come and gone.

Dare I say....

Dare I say that this little boy is potty trained....Oh I dare!!!!!

I anticipate there are still plenty of accidents ahead of us, but this boy is potty trained!!!  He has not worn a diaper all week (not even to bed) and has figured out how to tell me when he needs to go potty (all versions thereof.)  It is so liberating!!!!

The other day Grant and I decided to do the rough math on what we have spent in diapers (mind you this is a rough and pretty low estimate in my opinion.)  Since May 13, 2003 we have had non-stop 1-2 kids in diapers.  (my sil did 3 in diapers all different sizes at one point and I bow down to her for her patience and amazing outlook on it.) So over 9 1/2 years straight we have had someone in diapers..we have purchased diaper, we have changed diapers, and we have thrown away MANY diapers.

So nearly 10 years later our rough guess (and this does not include wipes, pull ups, or swim diapers) we figured we have spent well over $4000!

I am elated for the financial freedom, the freedom from changing messes, and finding myself in the next stage of life.  I am doing a happy dance on my end!!!

Perfectionist

I know it may be hard to believe (especially if you happened to walk into my house right now) but I do have a streak of perfectionism in me!  I have missed out on a lot as a result (drawing, playing pain/violin-anything of the artistic nature) so I try to let go of it to save my sanity.

When I was in college (probably high school too) I would take all my notes in class in pencil.  But that did not look nice enough, so I would always redo them in pen.  It had to look nice, neat and PERFECT.  If I messed up on the third word on the last line, you better believe that I threw that whole paper away and started from the beginning.  I rationalized that I was learning the material as I wrote and rewrote it.  I have to say, anyone that borrowed my notes did not have a problem reading them. (wow computers would have saved me a lot of time..I should have gone to college now and days.)

So how do I transition from expecting perfection from my own notes and handwriting to letting go of my daughters messy and erratic handwriting IT DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!!!! I try really hard to not harp on her and give gentle reminder occasionally...but really I am wondering from where this child came?  Certainly her handwriting did not come from me (or her father for that matter), I just hope that some day she will care enough to write nicely, and if not I will still love her massive amounts!