Restrictions: NONE

Whoohoo! I have no restrictions...for my driver's license...meaning NO Corrective Lenses are required to be used while driving!! I have ALWAYS had restrictions since I've had a license.

I've always dreaded this part of having another birthday each year since it just means you get to wait in a long line, pretty much just to pay some money and prove you are still alive and semi-trustworthy to operate a vehicle. But since my license expired this year I was super-excited to tell them I don't need glasses anymore! I had LASEK in Feb. and no longer need glasses :-)

As I did my penance and waited an hour-and-a-half for my number to be called I had a lot of time to observe the people in the crowded room. There were several teens with their parents applying for their first license. Immigrants trying to prove they can speak English well enough and understand our driving laws - all the while having their 2 little girls run a muck throughout the building; the older girl (about 4 or 5) kept telling her daddy something that pretty much sounded like poopie. He had a look of horror on his face and scanned for a public bathroom (there wasn't). She was grabbing her butt the whole time and even though she wasn't speaking English I think we all knew the dilemma.

Two sassy elderly ladies with BRIGHT make-up talking very loudly about everything. The fun part I remember was that for her children, for the past 15 years, her birthday present to them was to renew their tags for them...(you are reading this, right mom? :-) j/k). Another elderly lady hopping from chair to chair as an empty seat opened up. A boy failing his CDL test at least 2 or 3 times.

And then there's the folks sitting on either side of me. A young lady talking on her cell phone with a friend about an upcoming bridal shower; who was coming from out of town, the dress tailor thought she could fit into a size 6, she was like whatever I need at least an 8!, etc. And then the my (least) favorite and who almost sent me into an anxiety attack was a hairy elderly man with a backpack and thick glasses. He starts grabbing hairs on his face and very deliberately yanks them out. At first, I thought for sure he was pulling out his nose hairs, but then figured out he was pulling at his unibrow, trying to make them two eyebrows again. By this time, I was fidgeting in my chair wanting to scream and was begging for them to advance to my number. Who knows?! Maybe someone was people watching just like me and I was one that stood out to them....Nah!

Randomness

Life is busy and we are trying to keep up. Matt and I both recently started new jobs so we are adjusting. Brynn continues to do well with potty-training. I guess we can say she is potty-trained (other than nighttime). Here a few pictures from the last month.

Laying on daddy's side of the bed while he's away :-)

.... and a Toddler Bed to boot!

...So we go from potty-training to a "big girl bed". I was hoping it wouldn't be disastrous to try and change Brynn's crib into the daybed while potty-training, but it has been the easier of the two adjustments. She thinks it's the coolest thing and we've had no problems with her wandering the room and pulling everything off the shelves. I guess she was ready.

The funniest thing about it so far is we were outside doing some yard work (close to her window) and heard a thump. We rushed inside thinking she had fallen off the bed in her sleep, but she had shut the door hard. I had this waterproof pad under while she slept - which she doesn't like. When she woke up, she took it off, threw it out the door, slammed the door shut, and hopped back into bed.

Adventures in potty training!

I actually don't have any potty-training pictures to share, but this week we started the task of potty training Brynn. She has used her little potty off and on for the last few months. Of recent, she stopped liking the potty and really didn't want to come near it so we knew we were in for a treat. We chose this week because I am on vacation for the week and knew I'd have a concentrated effort into the event.

We started on Saturday and we had several accidents and some great successes. We even got a poo-poo which she got up, looked at it and said, "That's sauce." - we rolled with laughter (it was nasty!)!. Sunday, many accidents and some successes. Monday, mostly successes in the morning and digressed after naptime. Tuesday, the thought came to mind should we give up already?! She doesn't really tell you that she has to go, she either just goes or gives a half-second warning grab to the crotch. She also doesn't want to pull her panties down herself yet. You ask her a million times a day, "Do you need to go potty? Do you need to go pee-pee? Do you need to go poo-poo?", over and over. Usually if she gives you an eye roll that meant she needed to go even though she adamantly would say, "No!"

Actually, after three accidents within a half hour in the morning on Tuesday, things improved throughout the day. She has a stash of books and toys that are surrounding her little potty. She also has to bring a blankie with her to sit next to her while she goes. She gets super excited when she does go and squeals with excitement and is eager to tell you that, "I did it mommy!", or "I did it daddy!", or "Lookie, I did it!". Stickers and M&M's have been the highlight as well. She also enjoys the routine of dumping it into the big potty, wiping, flushing, moving the stool to wash her hands, and then moving it back.

Wednesday was a great potty day with no accidents! Woohoo! There were only two what I call "pre-dribbles" where she knew she needed to go and a little dribble came out, but we made it to the potty where she really went pee-pee. We also started to put the potty lid onto the big toilet to see how that would go, especially with using public restrooms she needed to learn to use the big potty. She was a little resistant, but she actually went poo-poo!(She was trying to look down and watch it come out and called it a "Turtle"!!) Since then, she doesn't even want to use the little potty - the lid has to go on the big potty and have her little stool in front of it. We finally even braved leaving the house other than to go outside and play. I needed to go by the college and drop something off and then we went to Meijer to grab a few things. We had taken the potty with us and Brynn went potty at the college and then before we left Meijer. She was so good yesterday!

Overall, the experience hasn't been all that bad. She has even been staying dry during nap time and is learning that we go sit on the potty when we wake up. It seems that in the mornings she can go every 15-30 minutes! I don't know if it's because of sleeping for so long at night and then drinking a lot in the morning and she's got to get it all out or what, but sheesh! I think part of it is also that she gets so excited when she goes that she pops up to look at it before she's completely done.

I pray that rest of the week goes well and that she will transition well to going potty while at Ms. Wanda's during the day!

VBS in Ohio

On June 23, I helped my old church from back home and taught a VBS class on being "Neighbors for Jesus". I had ages 2-5 yrs old and boy that was tiring. By the afternoon, it was meltdown time which was really meant it needed to be nap time. It was a great time overall.




Before we left to come back to MI, we stopped and had some ice cream with my brother and his family. The girls were so cute eating their ice cream together. Brynn always love spending time with her cousins!