A humbling experience

As many of you know...this is my daughter, Ruth Ann...



I love her with all my heart and would do anything for her...I would also buy anything for her...but there's one thing I'm sick and tired of buying for her and hope to never buy another one again...

About a year ago Ruth Ann started showing a mild interest in potty training and since I had a strong interest in removing diapers from my monthly list of things to buy I purchased a training potty and we started down the road to potty training. Had I known then what a long and stressful road this would be I would have never even encouraged her in the first place.

We started off on the right foot...she was going before bath time and on occasion a #2 was seen (I'm keeping it clean folks). Then she completely rejected the idea of sitting on the training potty. It was a fight of wills to get her to sit down, so I put the training potty away as to not completely traumatize her.

Then she turned 2 and then Tripp was born and now I'm buying diapers for 2 children on a monthly basis. We broke out the training seat for the big potty, I bought even better treats (Reese miniatures) and we bought little girl panties. No luck. She will go to the bathroom every time I take her...and that's about every 30 minutes...only to completely saturate her training panties 10 minutes later. I'm trying really hard not to completely loss what patience I have left with her...but I'm convinced she's doing this on purpose and spankings may be order real soon!

Here's the humbling part. In a lot of ways I feel like Ruth Ann is a genius...I know I'm her mom and therefore think she is the most fabulous little girl to have ever walked the face of the Earth...besides myself of course...I'm kidding obviously!  Anyway....I've been spoiled by her advanced speech and behavioural skills and convinced myself potty training would be a breeze...perhaps I even convinced myself she would even potty train herself!  I stand before you a mommy humbled by potty training...fellow mommies are all nodding their heads in agreement...mommies yet to travel down the potty training path let me warn you...the path may be VERY bumpy!  I'm trying not to lose hope...but I fear I may be changing her diaper until Ruth Ann leaves for college!  My only prayer right now is that she is potty trained before Tripp...I'm trying to set reasonable & attainable goals!

Zooin' it up!

Last week by friend Brantley and I decided a trip to the zoo was in order...we are in the middle of spring weather here in the Midlands of SC and it was time to start taking advantage of it...so because Ruth Ann and I talk about everything at length I told her about our up coming trip to zoo with our friends. Then I realized I had a doctor's appointment that morning so I had to cancel...Brantley understood...Ruth Ann did not. We rescheduled for this Friday and while the temps were about 20 degrees cooler than last week it was still sunny. So because I wasn't going to cancel plans on Ruth Ann 2 weeks in a row...we bundled up and headed to the zoo. It was a perfect day...any day when I leave the zoo without sweat running down my back is a success in my book. The crowds weren't bad...although we did notice spring field trips are starting...that means the child to adult ratio is dangerously out of proportion! As always, our kids had a lot of fun...



You'll notice that most of the pictures are of the back of the children's heads. If you go to the zoo with a child...this is mostly what you look at all day.



Mason tried to joining the turtle exhibit! Brantley and I decided zoo keeper may be his future profession!





Arch & I had our wedding reception at the zoo. Here are our kids 5 years later outside of our reception venue...



This is my favorite animal at the zoo...I could watch this little black footed cat all day! Today they were more active than usual so I made Ruth Ann watch them longer than normal!



We really are so fortunate to have such a great zoo just a few miles from our house. This kangaroo/wallaby exhibit is so neat...you walk through their habitat...there is no fence separating you from the animals!







All the animals were so active today...I think they're happy to have warmer temperatures too. I don't think I've ever seen the flamingos stretch their necks out like this before...



We voted on riding the train or the ponies...both Mason & Ruth Ann decided the train looked more fun today...poor Roper needs to speak up around these two, but he looks like he had a fun time...



Because I had Tripp-man with me, Brantley had to be the parent to ride with the kids. I'm debating about calling the zoo out on this fact...they require children ride with an adult...and then they try to charge the adult $2 to ride! Anyway, while they rode...Tripp chilled out with me...



I snapped this picture as a reminder to myself as to why 3 children are not in my future...notice Brantley holding the hand of one child while holding the other on her hip...all the while the 3rd child roams free. While it's impossible for anyone to have children with their age combinations (Ruth Ann & Roper are only 6 months apart in age)...I still salute those who have or plan on having 3 children...I'm not strong enough to handle it! Brantley made it look easy...which is good because I'm hoping being a mother of 3 is in her future!



This picture makes me want to plant a field of tulips...



We headed back to the bird exhibit, but since I had Tripp once again Brantley was the parent to accompany all the children...



While I safely watched from outside the net I discovered my child may have inherited some of her Grammy's fear of birds...



Apparently a bird tried to land on her shoulder...that's enough to strike fear into the hearts of anyone...or is that just me and my mom??



But Brantley renewed her faith in the bird exhibit and she left a happy girl...



Before we left I asked Brantley to take a picture of me and babies. Is it just me or do all moms have more pictures of the kids with others rather than with their own mother?? I'm making it a goal to take more pictures with my kids this year!



And then I got one last picture with Ruth Ann and Tripp. Brantley commented on how if feels like yesterday that Mason was Roper's age sitting on the bronze animals at the zoo. In a year I'll probably start crying when I look at this picture because Tripp will look so much different...



Tripp is sleeping through the night consistently now...so as far as I'm concerned he can stop growing up now!

Stylish??

What?? Who me?? My friend and most favorite photographer, Heidi Graves, nominated me for this award that I am most honored to receive! As a receipiant of this award I am required to list 7 facts about myself...and after doing a little blog stalking of previous award winners I see I have to be a little creative, so here's my attempt at being creative...

1) My mom went on a date with Warren Beatty when she was a waitress in Cherokee, NC while in college...had he not been such a b-hole behaps I could have been Tara Elizabeth Beatty??? Probably not, I may look more like my mom's family than my daddy's, but I'm Becker through and through...I'm mean as a snake!

2) As much as I love the fact that I'm an Auburn Tiger & I wish I had grown up cheering for them on a weekly basis during the Fall...I never even stepped foot on the campus until my senior year in high school...Auburn wasn't even a school I had considered until the fall of 1996. But God had a plan for me...I was to be at Auburn for the 1996 Iron Bowl victory and my heart would forever belong to Auburn University. When I think about the friends & memories I made I can't imagen having gone to any other school...although I had a brief lapse of better judgement and almost transferred to Clemson...yuck...had that happened I may have never met and married Arch...then no Ruth Ann & Tripp...isn't it amazing how one random decision to visit a random college campus can forever change your life??? My children won't be denied the chance to grow up in the family of a football dynasty...they're Auburn Tigers whether they like it or not!

3) I have a serious addiction...to children's clothing. I enjoying making it, buying it and one day I hope I'll be able to sell it too. My dream is to have a children's clothing store...if I open one, will you all promise to shop there??

4) I LOVE reality TV. My husband routinely makes fun of my love for all things reality...I can't get enough of any of The Real Housewives...but I remind him that all his hunting shows are "reality" TV too and that usually quites him for a day or two!

5) I have 2 of the cutest children alive...





At least I think so...and my mom probably agrees too. Ruth Ann is FULL of personality. I love how talkative she is ALL THE TIME! This girl doesn't stop talking from the time she gets up until the time she falls asleep! Tripp is babbling now and I wonder if he'll be able to get a word in to compete with his big sister!

6) I consider myself a loyal friend. When my brother passed away 2 years ago one of the things I said about him during the visitation with friends and family was that Adam was a loyal friend...if he considered you a friend he would do anything for you...no questions asked. I think this must be a family trait because I like to think I would do the same for my friends. If you're a friend of mine...I'll laugh with you, cry with you, fight for you and defend you...no questions asked.

7) And in honor the blogger who nominated me...I LOVE photography! When I was in college...and if you went to college with me you know this to be true...I was always the one with the camera. At the time it was just a small camera that took film...this was prior to the digital camera age, which saying that feels like decades ago. I've upgraded to a digital SLR camera and often take pictures of my children. I inherited this from my mom's mother (who Ruth Ann is named after) and love that my children will never be without a well documented & photographed account of their childhood. But I don't just love my random photographs...I believe you should have your children professionally photographed as newborns, and then at 3mths, 6mths, 9mths, 1yr and then perhaps annually until they graduate from high school??? I don't know how long we'll keep up with annual pictures, but I would not be surprised if we are making annual trips to Camden, SC to visit our favorite photographer, Heidi Graves , until Tripp-man heads off to Auburn in the Fall of  2029!  I hope Heidi plans on staying in business until then!

Hope you enjoyed all the random-ness this post had to offer.  I'm off to blow dry Ruth Ann's hair...what an exciting & stylish life I lead!

Sibling Bath Time

If you're an only child then you probably never shared your bath time when you were little...but if you had a sibling + or - 5 years your age then you probably shared a bath time on a regular basis. Tonight was a milestone...Ruth Ann and Tripp shared the first of many bath times...I tried to make the pictures as modest as possible...



Then I bathed Tripp, got him dressed and then when I walked back in the bathroom this is what I found...





Bathing her bath tub baby...this girl is going to make a great mommy one day!

Sweet Smiles

Is there anything sweeter than this...



or this...



or this...



or this...



Don't think so...then this boy has something for you...



In the words of my Papaw...a knuckle sandwich!



Just kidding...because I know this is the sweetest baby face anyone has ever seen...but maybe I'm just bias!

Easter Preview

A few weeks ago I bought the cutest outfit for Tripp...Arch's disagrees that boys wear "outfits", but I think as long as he's a baby &/or in a diaper then the use of "outfit" is acceptable. I decided he would wear it in his 3 months pictures and then again for Easter. My mom bought Ruth Ann and Ada matching white dresses that will be great for pictures at the beach this summer and I had thought she could wear it for Easter too...but it's way too long and I was going to have to hem it. Then I started thinking I would like Tripp and Ruth Ann to match Easter morning...so off to the fabric store I went...here's a preview of Ruth Ann's Easter dress 2011...







We're off to the shoe store this week to get our Easter shoes and socks...oh I love a new pair of white dress shoes on little girls!

It's a tough job

I've been back in my real world...aka "work"...for 2 weeks. The first question I get asked by co-workers and patients is how Tripp is doing...the second question usually is how Ruth Ann is handling being a big sister. This is the first time in Ruth Ann's life where she and I share a common role...that of "Big Sister". She has taken to the role much better than I ever did. I was about 5 months older than Ruth Ann was when my little brother was born...not much different, but my mom tells stories of how hard I took the addition to our family. Ruth Ann has been a great big sister. She is always looking out for her little brother...if he cries, she comes to tell me & then goes on a hunt for his pacie & blanket. I've been calling him my "buggy"...but if she hears this she argues with me and tells me he is HER buggy! She loves laying on the floor with him or trying to push him in the swing and is dying to feed him a bottle. I love seeing how sweet she is with him and am happy she doesn't feel threatened by his presence in our house. The first 2 months have gone well...I just hope the next 18 years go half as smoothly!

Helpful baby clothing

Let me start by saying with each maternity leave I take...which there have only been 2...I become more aware of how difficult it is to be a stay at home mom. I'm also reminded that I'm not cut out to be one. My hat's off to you ladies, it's hard work...and very often times unrewarding & unnoticed hard work. I found during both maternity leaves I often lost track of what day it was because everyday felt like I was trapped in Bill Murray's "Groundhog Day"...it was the same things over and over. Now I understand 99% of that feeling was due to being trapped in doors due to cold weather and a newborn baby...but still, I seemed to be repeating the same day for 8 straight weeks! When Ruth Ann was a newborn I had the most precious onesies from Gymboree that had a simple embroidered animal on them with a cute saying like "little peanut". She lived in those onesies so when I found out I was expecting a baby boy I knew I wanted something similar. The closest thing I could find were days of the week onesies from Gap. I wasn't in love with them, but they were on sale and Tripp was arriving soon, so I purchased them...I LOVED them! I tried putting him in the correct day of the week as a reminder for which day of the week it was...



Who knew baby clothes could be so helpful!

Irony

When Tripp was about 2 weeks old and I was in the middle of attempting to breast feed I was approached by a friend selling Girl Scout cookies for her daughter. Since I was basically starving all the time I decided to order a box or two...or NINE! Seriously, I ordered 9 boxes!! While waiting for my shipment of cookies to come in 3 things happened...1)I stopped breast feeding 2)I started gaining weight and 3)I started South Beach. So when my cookies came in I had a dilemma on my hands...what to do with the cookies?? I offered them to my mom...but she had purchased cookies of her own, so instead, she sold them for me to her co-workers. I did keep 2 boxes of shortbread cookies for Ruth Ann since they offer the least amount of mess for a toddler. Here she is enjoying her first Girl Scout cookie...



Here's the irony...this is the only cookie she would eat. I could eat a whole sleeve of shortbread cookies, but thanks to years of serious addiction to a carbohydrate, I can't. She could eat as many as she wants, yet this cookie was later found half eaten, discarded and forgotten. It's simply not fair.