Chocolate Bunny Worthy

We've been potty training in our house.  It's been a long week...a very, very, very LONG week.  But Miss Caroline is kicking butt and taking names.  She turns 2 in August right before her little sister comes and mom does not want to be changing two sets of diapers.  So last Wednesday we took the plunge!  The moon was in the right sign and it was go time.

To prepare for our long journey to no diapers, we had to buy some BIG girl underwear.  She got Hello Kitty and Minnie Mouse. She was so excited that she got a pair out of the package by herself and was trying to put them on herself.  She was struggling, so I had to help her out.  Her grandma Cathy thought she was in a potty chair in this picture. HAHA!  Sorry Cathy, I had to share it.

Day One started out pretty good.  But we had to take a break so she could get shots.  Since she didn't even whimper during shots and had no accident, I rewarded her and myself with french fries. It was a nice break.  We carried on with the potty once we got home.  She did pretty good, but of course had a few accidents.  The hardest part is training yourself.  No trips to town, no relaxing in a recliner, no fun.  Just lots of time in the bathroom, reading books, doing puzzles, taking pictures, and watching videos of Pa Pa Stu sassing.  Sitting on the bathroom floor for hours and hours of the day, is miserable.  I stand up and feel like my hips are falling off.  Hard tile floors+7 month pregnant hips=not fun!  I grab pillows now, or if it's a long time I will drag in a chair.

While mom gets ready she plays in my room.  Doing puzzles and climbing on the bed.  Only she can rock a pair of crocs and thick undies.  And she will throw a fit if you do not put her "boots" on.  So she constantly is wearing "boots", any form, crocs, sneaks, sandals, or even house "boots."

Because we spend lots of time in the potty we don't have time for snacks in our chair.  So she eats sharks on the toilet while rocking Everett's Jason Mraz hat.  She's cute. Period.

Also, safety gear is needed on the potty.

And hugs and support is needed from cousins.

And when you kick booty like this girl you get FIVE cat stickers.  That's right almost a week in and this kid is going all day with maybe one accident!  She goes every hour almost on the dot.  Our sitting time has decreased from over an hour to maybe fifteen minutes.  It takes patience and training, but once you can do it yourself, your sweet baby can too.   Hopefully in the next few days, she'll be more vocal about it and we won't have to watch the clock like hawks.  

So when this girl has a success, she gets a stickers and a M&M or her favorite-CHOCOLATE BUNNY!

So to all you potty training mommy's you can do it!  And so can your baby!

Spread the news

Ollie Faith's open heart surgery has been set.  Please pray for her, the doctors and medical staff at Barnes-Jewish, and our family.  Surgery is Thursday June 9th.  Here is her prayer card-please steal it, print it, post it everywhere.  Thanks to our family friend Jamie McDonald for capturing her gorgeous eyes and working this card up for us to pass out.

holy COW!

 miss caroline loves cows.  i mean L-O-V-E-S cows.  you say anything about them and she just starts talking her talk and throws in ta-ow(which is cow)  she loves daddy ta-ows, momma ta-ows, and of course baby ta-ows.  now that we live with my sister, we are much much much closer to the cow action than before.  so, occasionally when we want to kill a little time we'll take her down the road to see all of the cows.

i've always grown up with cows around.  my dad has always had a ton at his cattle farm down the road, plus we had "bucket" calves at our house.  i have always loved cows too.  they're cute.  they're not that smelly.  and they are delicious.  yeah, we raise them and eat them.  and we are very fortunate to be able to have farm fresh beef.  this year my dad is actually building a butcher shop at my parents house so he can cut up his own beef.

sorry, side tracked.  i took caroline to see the cattle one day, she loved it...of course.  while there we also saw a bunny.  so now anytime we go to the barn or even mention cows, she says bunny then hop, hop, hop.  it's cute.  my girl is cute.  now picture time.

lookin' for cows already

she knows exactly where their pens are, and she just starts going for them

her daddy put on his boots so she could get a closer look.  clearly she was dying!

i also said to kylie-"did you ever think this would be a normal thing in your life, to work with cattle?" his response, "never."    fyi: he was far from farm boy when we dated, now he's full on farm man.  well working on it.  he's mostly a hay baler and helps with cattle and around the farm.  he's not a man of seed and soil...yet.

on the gator, to search for baby ta-ows

we are blessed.

she's a daddy's girl, for sure!

we love the new country life we live. 

sugar & spice and everything nice

baby daniel number two is a GIRL!  we've known, our family has known, most of our friends have known.  i'm just a bad blogger.  kylie and i are very excited to get another little miss.  especially kylie, he can't wait for two little girls to be obsessed with him.  i am thrilled too!  i wanted caroline to get a sister.  my sisters are my best friends and i wanted that for her too. 

 here she is.  we saw her face before we knew the sex, and i just knew it was a girl.  she looks so much like caroline to me.  now will she have the same hair and eyes like her daddy(caroline too) OR will she get mommy's red hair and brown eyes?!  i've got my fingers crossed on mommy's red hair and daddy's blue/gray eyes. but either way she's just beautiful.

perfect little profile.  she's pretty.

her name is Penelope.

possibly penelope kathleen-after kylie's mamaw "kat" kathleen daniels

possibly penelope lou-after my mom  janie lou

 or maybe even penelope jane-also after my mom.

either way penelope is it.  but a middle name is just difficult.  i really like them all except i fear if it's jane then she'll be called P.J.  and i just really really really dislike initials for a name.  it's like someone got lazy and just gave up on a name.  personal opinion.

last but not least.   here's caroline.  loving life and cows.  no wonder she loves her dad so much.  he picks her up from the sitter and takes her to cows.  all mom does is drop her off and leave her with kitties all day!

Come again?

Very rarely do I talk about my job and my stories from behind the chair.  I don’t want to tell specific stories that would embarrass my clients or point out a certain person.  That’s just not cool.  But, since I’m going on my fifth year of professionally cutting hair, six when you count school, I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to clear up about hair.  So, without further adieu I give you my myths and my facts about hair.

MYTHS:

-Sweet N Low will make your hair color not itch.

 

MYTH! A woman asked me to put it in her color before putting it on her hair.  I was in school at the time and my teacher told me to “not put that $#!* in her color, but tell her you did.”  So that’s exactly what I did.  I put the color on and ten minutes later asked “how’s it feeling?”  in which she replies “Great!  That sweet n low really does the trick!”  Oh boy, if she only knew.

-Perms can be “cut” out of your hair.  MYTH!  Once your hair is permed, it cannot be cut out!  Perm solution breaks the bonds in your hair, then the neutralizer reforms the bonds to take the shape of the rod, therefore perming your hair.  So just because you got a haircut, does not mean the perm is gone.  In most cases, these woman that say this have not had a perm in over a year…or three!

-Perms literally permanently curl your hair. 

They really did perms like this back in the day. Can you imagine a wet solution on your hair then hooked up to wires?!

MYTH! A perm can curl your hair, but most of them go flat after 3-4 months.  You might have a little left in there but five years later, it’s gone!  So quit thinking that the perm you got when you were 14 made you have curly hair, because it didn’t.

-Blonde hair fades. 

MYTH!  If you have high lights your hair has been lightened to that level.  It’s not going to go back to being brown when it’s been lifted to blonde.  It’s just not.  Check your outgrowth Ms., it’s been months since you got high lights.  They’re not faded…they’re grown out.

-Dirty hair takes color better.  MYTH!  If your hair is coated in mousse and hairspray then think of what your hair cuticle looks like  Yeah, your color will still work, but it has to cut through your product build up and natural oils before it can get that cuticle open and really soak into your hair follicle. So, technically clean hair is better for color absorption.

*Don’t be offended if you’re one of these ladies who have said these things.  You now know, you were far off from the truth.  I know there are lots more “myths” floating around, but now it’s times for the FACTS!

FACTS:

-“frosting” is a term used in the 80’s and 90’s-it’s high lights ladies

-“feathering” also 80’s-welcome to the new millennium, we use LAYERS now

-“brick lay” uh what?!-what you mean is stack the back, please.

-mullets aren’t cool anymore....

..........unless maybe it's a fashion mullet, 

but not really

-ladies over 40 should NOT get pink, purple, turquoise, etc. in their hair

…it’s just not cute anymore.

-you can’t scrunch straight hair and expect it to curl. 

-you can't complain how bad your hair cut is when....you cut it yourself!

-your hair just won't grow, well maybe it's because you've not had a cut in a year and it just keeps breaking off on the end.

-a flat iron is not always your best friend.

-leave in conditioner is your friend, when used in moderation.

-a pony tail everyday will damage your hair.

So next time you visit your "hair lady" remember these tid bits.  Also remember-

She can shape your brows and wax your chin but she can’t lift and tuck them.  She just a beautician ladies, not a magician.

Jasper

i promised to blog more, but obviously i'm failing.  so after much hounding of family and friends (mostly 7 emails from the dearest heiserman.)  so here i am racking my brain, and boom!  welcome to a blog all about my brother (in law) Jade aka Jasper.  Now that my family lives in the reid household, i've learned some new things about my brother i never knew before.  and yes he's is truly my brother, considering he came around when i was 9 and he's been with my sister, annie, for like 14 years, he no longer get "in-law" after his title.  i really love him like a brother and know that i can go to him anytime for help.  i love him.

Annie, sweet Ollie, and Jasper

so it's been almost three weeks since we hauled our treasures into the beloved basement and things are going great...or at least i think so.  i've always known that their are just certain things that jade reid WON'T eat : the 3 M's-mushrooms, mustard, and mayonnaise. he's extreme about his dislikes too.  he can't just pick out mushrooms, nope. no way. uh uh, won't do it.  he'll skip dinner and go straight for pie(who could blame him there though!) he won't eat a burger with mustard, even if it's scraped off and topped with ketchup.  won't do it!  but there are things he will eat.  things that i would raise my nose to and clench my teeth and say nope. no way. uh uh, won't do it.

one of these things would be "oatmeal and dumplings" in the words of jade.  what is this mess you ask?  well it's a bowl of oatmeal with two slices of bread inside.  two whole pieces just smothered in oatmeal.  then he breaks it up and eats it.  he claims is awesome.  annie says it's terrible.  i'm with her 100%.

he also eats cookies as cereal.  he fills up a glass of milk, dumps like 6 cookies in, swirls it with a spoon til they are mushy and broken up, then he enjoys.  that is just not right.  just. not. right!

oh and both him and annie drink milk with dinner.  seriously?!  you can't drink milk with spaghetti. that is unamerican!

so i've learned he has some weird eating habits.  i've always known he loves my sister and he is a great dad and an extremely hard worker, so seeing those qualities everyday was not a shock.  but oatmeal in dumplings.  gross jade.  just gross.  but i can look past that and still love you.

p.s. jade also works in the upstairs of my salon.  so not only do i see him at home, but at work too.  good thing he's not one of "those" in-laws like my zac.  BOOM! just kidding abbie.  i love zac too, but i can't write about his weird food cravings or this blog would never end!  oh and tiff, i love kolby too.  but what could i write about him, maybe everyone should know about the red afro that floats around in our babies' blood streams, lets just hope they aren't girls that inherit that hairdo!

Meet Penelope Jane

This blog is long over due.

On August 23rd at 6:28pm, Miss Penelope Jane Daniel was born. Weighing in at 9lbs 1oz and 20 1/2" long. She was and is beautiful. Blue eyes just like daddy and a nose like mommy. I thought she looked just like Caroline right after she was born. But after a few days she started to look more and more like my side of the family. She was absolutely beautiful. Miss Penelope is very easy. She took on to nursing like a champ. And has been a great baby since birth. She is almost 5 months old now and is doing lots of new tricks. She recently started rolling from her back to her belly and gets very mad when she gets stuck on her belly. She loves eating oatmeal cereal and her fruits and veggies. especially applesauce. Caroline is a great big sister. She loves to help mommy with Penelope all the time. She likes to play with Penelope and hold her and kiss her. She says Penelope is her best friend. She calls her LP. And LP-a. She also calls me, mom-mia And her dad, dad-dia. Life with two girls is not that much different than life with one girl. It's just one more butt to wipe!

don't get your eyes checked...

cause this blog is REAL!  i know, i know.  i'm a terrible blogger.  i just can't find time, and it's so much easier to stalk a blog then to WRITE one.  but today i decided to take the plunge and dive back into it.  so excuse the bad grammar, the spelling, the lowercase letters-this is how i roll.

so lots of excitement in 2011.  in just a few weeks my family is moving into my sister's basement!  oh man, i never thought i would ever live with my family again, but it's happening.  i might have to break her kids like wild horses, but i think she would appreciate that.  OR she might ban me to the underground for being to "bossy."  which everett informed me i needed to "get out of here" cause i was too bossy about drinking bath water.  who drinks bath water? those nasty reid kids do, they don't care that it butt stew in there, it's delicious!

in other news, baby pinto is on the way! 

i am 9 weeks and 1 day.  look at those little arm and leg buds.  you can even see it's little face.  i melted when the dr. pulled the ultrasound up and there was my baby.  tiny and perfect.  it's little arms waving around. it's heart beating strong.  it made it all real.  made that week of solid puking worth every trip to the porcelain throne worth it.  i think Pinto(named this because Caroline was known as "bean") is a girl.  i thought boy til i saw it.  now i think girl.  however the chinese gender chart begs to differ, and annie is rooting BOY all the way.   a girl would be nice to get all caroline's clothes, i mean they will be 2 years and 2 days apart.  but if i have a boy you better believe he's not wearing athletic shorts and nikes.  no way not my boy.  he's rockin' a mohawk with converse tennis shoes or slip on van.  he's going to be the little rocker boy like daddy-not so much his daddy's wardrobe now, who only wears hooded sweatshirts with family companies' logos-but like his daddy that rocked his ric bass. haha-i know you loved that annie!  either way, this baby is going to be styling!  so pray up on pinto, please.


ALSO, i'm going to be an aunt again!  the first one on the daniel side.

my beautiful in laws are having a baby! just three weeks after us!  kolby is kylie's brother and he's been married to tiffany for almost 3 years.  and after lots of life planning-that me and my mother in law thought would never end-they finally added baby to the list!  (just kidding tiff, i know this has been on your list a LONG time!)  so they announced the great news to us on saturday.  we've been so busy working on our basement rooms that they thought they would never see us.  so after getting lots of texts-pretty much dying for our attention-we went over for dinner.  they're dog, olive, came running in the kitchen like a bullet and she had on a tank top(i'm not kidding, a tank top) that said "BIG SISTER"!  whipped my head up and said to my mom in law, cathy, "IS THAT REAL?!" and she shook her head yes, in which i ran into the living room to give hugs and congrats!  i am so excited for this little red bean(we really like the bean theme)  i thought they were trying but didn't want to ask to many questions because i wanted to be surprised.  and man i was!  they go to the dr. on valentines day where they get to see their first child for the first time.  they are delivering at the same hospital as us, and thank goodness cause if i go late and they go early, we might be there at the same time.  their baby is "supposed" to be a boy too.

so we joke that they might get a mini kolby and we get a mini kylie or we get kolby and they get kylie.  the chances of either are very high considering kylie and tiff get confused as brother and sister from their dark hair and blue eyes. and kolby and i get called bro and sis cause our red hair and brown eyes.  so we'll see what God gives us.  but i'm so excited that we will have babies so close together.  they are going to be best friends.  so please pray for their little bean too.  so far tiff is just tired, so pray she doesn't get that awful morning sickness.