who's who

can you tell? blueberry lunch can't guess because that just wouldn't be fair.

question

would my thighs be this cute if they looked like this?

forgot to post this awhile back

this was during those few days of freezing cole weather. we had just got new bike seats for the boys for christmas and shep and daddy were dying to give them a test drive.

okay lets back up

so it is true, over the last two weeks i have potty trained shep and put him in a big boy bed. it all happened a little too fast for me, but i didn't plan it that way. we just got an awesome deal on bunk bed so i had to buy it before someone else snatched it up. (the awesome bunk bed that shep is currently playing in, NOT napping!)

the transition to the bunk bed was uneventful, after we got through our first nap, well, not really a nap so much as shep constantly getting out of his bed and me having to"remind" him that he is not allowed to get out of this bed during nap or night time. although yesterday after naps i went into get him and the room smelled like vicks vapor rub. at some point he must have gotten onto the changing table and got the vicks and rubbed it on himself because he smelled like it.

potty training is a work in progress. he does well when i am on my game and he is not distracted, whenever those two things go ary, it usually ends up in wet underwear. we made significant progress last week when i switched from mini marsh mellows to peanut M&M's. I know it hasn't been that long, but i must say i am pleased with myself for keeping my cool when accidents occurred...like the time he pooped in his underwear standing right next to the toilet.

a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

zoe even got in on the action

some old comfort in his new place

it doesn't get much cuter folks

to dos:

potty training

big boy bed

check and check!!

ya'll I am so excited!!

well this bit of news is most definitely a florida thing, so please stick with me as i take a short walk down memory lane. does anyone remember those plastic straw like things that you could stick into an orange (or any other citrus) and suck the juice straight out? we had them when i was a kid, and since we also had and orange, grapefruit and lemon tree in our backyard we sucked down a lot of fresh juice. it was also such a good little treat while playing in the back yard.

my mother keeps everything....i am reading books to shep that were mine when i was his age. naturally i assumed she still had these, but several years ago when I first asked her about them, she didn't know where they were. i kinda forgot about them until recently. i have been searching in stores and on the internet for them. well i finally found them on some crazy obscure florida site. i ordered four of them and can't wait for their arrival. swing on by if you would like the freshest orange juice you can find!

underwear or no underwear...that is the question

we have been potty training this week. I would like to say that is has been a success, and that I am one of those moms that has the kid that just wants to use the potty and "gets it"' on the first day, but alas, that would be a lie. the problem seems to arise whenever I put underwear on him. as long as he runs around naked he does great, goes to the bathroom all by himself, doesn't even need me in there with him. however, the second I put underwear on him he pees in them. I don't know if he forgets that it isn't a diaper. he definitely doesn't like the pee running down his leg. right now I am stuck between giving up and starting back again in a month or two, or sticking with it and see if I can get him trained.

so...if you see Shep around town and he is naked on his bottom half, you will know why.

yesterday, I ran out to the store to get sheets for Shep's new bunk bed* arriving on friday (pics to come later) and I just let him go in his underwear hoping he wouldn't pee in them. on my way there I thought that this was probably one of the dumber motherhood mistakes I had made...who in their right mind brings an un-potty trained 2 yr old to the store while wearing underwear. but we actually didn't have any accidents.

*and by the way, if you think i am a bit crazy to transition to the big boy bed and quit the diapers all in one week, i am!

brothers

gotta love 'em

ending 2009; picture style

saturday morning snuggle time

chairs for the boys at the extended riddle family christmas party

excited to have 4 stockings to hang this year

santa and the reindeers couldn't do all that work without a little snack

Christmas morning: all through the house not a creature was stirring (because shep slept until 8:30...love it)

finally awake and opening his loot

wooden train set

i couldn't believe how gentle he was with it (that has since changed, wish I had another pic)

and santa brought this one....props to santa for thinking of this awesome basketball hoop

christmas day walk to make room for dinner

love this stroller and the boys who sit in it

farming it up for new years, asheville style

there was sledding

and lots of toys to play with

and horses to feed

and babies to feed

and grown ups to feed

yummy collards, bacon wrapped pork, black eyed peas and cornbread

we had hand bells to play

and walks to take

dancing till dawn (or at least midnight)

we even had time for a little of this...

happy 2010