downstairs bathroom, mini makeover

I'm not known to plan these things, but Lowe's had some faucets on sale.  My bathroom could benefit from a new faucet.  Then the faucet looks nice and everything else looks shabby.  It's a vicious circle.

Here is a shot from when we first moved in.

Old faucet

New faucet, installed it myself, and it works, and it doesn't leak.
I know, I'm amazed too.  

Took down the large builder grade mirror
and added a small framed one. 

Spray painted the light fixture

Nothing crazy, just a little better

 

potty training problem

The issue seems to be

falling in love with too many kinds of underwear.

cleaning schedule

My favorite kinds of books are memoirs and cookbooks.  I'm guessing it's why I like reading blogs, I really enjoy stories of real people lives and learning what's in their ovens.  When I started blogging I mostly read adoption related blogs, I've moved on, a bit.

Did you know their are like a million billion stay at home moms that take their jobs very seriously?  It's a little intense.  Recently poked around in a blog about organizing everything in your house, ugh. Instead of organizing things I just get rid of them.  Another common theme among such blogs seems to be a cleaning schedule.  Are we in college? Do I live in apartment with a bunch of other people? No.  Then no cleaning schedule needed.  But then I started feeling a little guilty.  Is my house not clean enough?  Do I need a schedule?  Should I print out an excel chart?  Should I make Oliver a job chart?


Forget it.  Here is how we get things done, when we feel like it.

Put our headbands on.

Oliver uses his swiffer covered with a paper towel
to wrangle his toys together, then puts them away.  While
I clean the counters and tables.

Last Oliver helps "mop" the floors.

Yes, yes those are glow in the dark skulls and crossbones on Oliver's new boxer briefs, pretty much awesome.

Also, if you read the previous post and gave me advice about a new vacuum, thanks our rugs are looking forward to a good cleaning.  

help!

I really like to vacuum.  Well I use to really like to vacuum.  The vacuum I really liked died a horrible death.  I wasn't too sad that it died because I always had to wear noise canceling headphones when using it, it was so loud!!  I guess I could have taken it to one of those vacuum fix it shops, but didn't.  Instead I went to Target and picked up a new different one.  This new lame vacuum works lovely downstairs on our non carpeted surfaces.  Cleans up crumbs from the kitchen floor in a snap, sucks up burnt pits of food from the bottom of the oven in no time, rids the fridge of all those onion peels that flake off, and does magic on crumbs in the vents.  It also comes with a retractable cord, which I love because I hate wrapping up the cord, just don't like how it feels.

Upstairs is a whole different story.
A string falls to the floor from a new shirt, vacuum won't pick it up. 
Some hair falls from my head to the floor, vacuum doesn't care.
Random pits of carpet fuzz, a dead fly, a leaf from a plant, feathers that left the duvet or the pillows, and whatever else may be living in my carpet, vacuum thinks it all needs to stay right where it is.  It literally sucks nothing up from the carpeted floor, it's pretty much awful.  

So what kind of vacuum do you have?  Does it suck?  Does it even suck stuff off carpets? 

hummus

A container of hummus can cost between $2.99 - $4.50, or whatever.  Point being it seems to me that hummus is expensive especially when you consider the cost of the individual ingredients.  I've known this for years and yet I keep purchasing overpriced hummus.

No more I say!  Like I gave up the dryer last April, I've now given up on buying hummus.  See this weekend we had some people over for dinner and I decided to make some homemade hummus as an appetizer with crackers and vegetables.   

I turned to my dear Ina the Barefoot Contessa.  Ina has a passion for fresh and delicious, so I knew she could be trusted.  All the ingredients I needed, minus chick peas, I already had at home.  Bringing the price down to the cost of two cans of beans about $2.

-two cans of chick peas
-couple cloves of garlic
-juice of a lemon or two
-four tablespoons of liquid from the chick pea can
-couple dashes of hot sauce (or not, if you're not into that sort of thing)
-she also suggested I add 1/3 cup of tahini, though Jim was the one going to the grocery story and I didn't think he would be able to locate it, so I skipped it

Buzz everything around in the food processor and add olive oil as needed to get the consistency you like. 

can't relate

Every mom is different, every mom has her own style, I found my opposite at Oliver's gym class the other day.

Towards the end of class the kids have a separation time.  The moms back up and the kids play with each other.  I knew this one mom-son combo was new this week, so I thought I would chat with her.  The opening question in these situations, as I've learned, is "How old is your son?" Let's call her Martha (I got a chance to watch the Martha show today, so I've been thinking about her)

Martha -25 months, which one is yours?
Me -He is the one wearing the Red Sox shirt.
Martha - I can't believe we haven't been to this place, it's so close to our house.
Me -Oh, we really love the class it's a lot of fun, the instructors are awesome, and my son has gained a lot of confidence in his gross motor skills. (A LOT)
Martha -Well this place looks pretty safe, like he can't hurt himself.  I'm really nervous about him getting hurt.  I'm a stay at home mom and we really stay at home a lot.  I think he has speech delays because he is never around other children.

End of separation time, I go assist Oliver in the cleaning process.

I don't know her past or her story, or anything, but the conversation posted above.  For some reason this was on my mind all day.  I'm not nervous about Oliver getting hurt, bumps and scratches don't scare me.  I mean we don't spend our days chasing tornadoes, when he escapes the front door I always scoop him up quickly, and when food is too hot I tell him to blow on it....safe enough, right?  I let him climb on things at the park that two year olds don't normally climb on, he uses knives in the kitchen and stirs food that is cooking, he runs on hard surfaces, and uses a trapeze bar without a mat under it.  Living on the edge?

Is it my personality?  I'm generally a "things are going to be fine" kind of person.  Wait the psychologist called it Pollyanna.  I'm a Pollyanna.  Is it that Oliver is a daredevil and I can't imagine squelching it?  Is it the adoption, is it that I didn't start with a breakable baby?  Is it that he made it through so much already what's a kid at the gym going to do to him? 

Who are you?  A Nervous Nelly?  A free spirit? A hobbit?  A helicopter?  Or a Pollyanna like me?

potty time

We are going on a Caribbean cruise this winter.  Oliver loves water, and this is going to blow his mind!  The reason for the cruise is our cousin's wedding (hey sara), well I guess she is my cousin-in-law, is that such a thing?  Whatever.  It's going to be a super time.

I've recently decided that diapers will not be invited.  I don't want to bring cloth diapers, or buy disposable, or even deal with swim diapers.  Okay maybe swim diapers, he has issues with the pool.

So it's officially time to start potty training.  Three months, here we go...

The good
-Oliver always says when he has to poo and we have had poop free diapers for awhile
-He isn't scared of our toilet, or any he has come across
-Can pull his shorts/pants up and down himself

The not as good
-He has no idea when he has to pee, or at least that's how it seems.  When I put him on the potty he makes it happen, but never indicates its arrival...never.
-The concept of "being a big boy" or "being like dada"  or "not a baby" is foreign to him.  No bribery around that will work.


Our supplies

The motivator

Oliver, do you have to pee
No mama
Remember when you go pee on the potty you get a special snack
Yes pee
Thought so

Part of our stash of new underwear 

We have two packs of the Gerber training pants, they are a slightly more absorbent then standard underwear, but nothing like diapers.  We also have some fancy Thomas the train underwear.  Oliver doesn't know about characters, he hardly watches TV, but he loves trains and we do have a Thomas DVD that he has watched once, so he thinks they are pretty neat.  However, I find myself saying "Okay Oliver you are wearing your Thomas underwear, no peeing on Thomas, Thomas wants to stay dry"  Oh man.

The calming voice in my head comes from Sara over at Clover Lane.  She is sweet, pie sweet.  She speaks so highly of being a stay at home mom, she makes me feel like I have a real job, she reminds me that he is still a baby and there is a lot he needs to get together in order to be successful at potty training and he certainly doesn't need me to get frustrated with him.  Buckets and buckets of patience.  
-------------

So here is how it goes, well at least for the past couple days.
-Diapers only at bed time, and when he is in the care of someone else (church nursery)
-No Pull Ups or whatever the cloth equivalent of Pull Ups are, they might as well be diapers!
-A constant dialogue about peeing and where it goes
-Visiting the bathroom twice an hour during the day and a bit more often after meals or snacks
-Lots of excitement about getting the job done, and a little reward

Here is what I tried and HATED!!!
I've read quite a bit online about different methods.  A very popular method seems to be loading the child up on salty snacks so they drink lots and then have lots of pee.  Well Oliver doesn't need salty snacks to crave water or drinks.  He would drink cups and cups of water all day long if I let him.  Sunday afternoon I let him do just that.  AWFUL.  He was going every five minutes, once on the potty and three times on the floor, again on the potty and four more times on the floor, disaster.  Maybe when he understands the sensation of needing to pee this will help him practice getting there in time, but he certainly isn't ready for it yet. 

Your tips are welcome, please.