Cleaning Out My Phone Camera.

These have been on my phone for varying amounts of time over the past two months or so - enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday - Ponytail!

Defying the idea that you have to have a lot of hair to rock a ponytail :)

Potty Training.

Call me crazy (I may be saying the same thing about myself in the next few days!), but I'm thinking of starting potty training. In fact, we needed to get diapers this past weekend at the store, and so we opted for the 2T Pull-Ups instead. Some were on sale.

Why the rush?

First and foremost, I fully support taking cues from your own child about their personal readiness for certain things, and potty training is at the top of that list. You may remember that Ava has sat on the potty before bathtime many evenings and poo'd and tee-tee'd (i'm officially a mom with words like that!) on her Baby Bjorn potty. Now, it's gone a step further, with her pulling on my pj's the other night yelling, "I pooooooooooo! I pooooooooooo!". She really does NOT like the feeling of a messy diaper. She's done that several times, and one time, she started yelling it and I checked her diaper and found nothing. Two minutes later, she reeked, so I know she's starting to be able to preemptively know she has to go.

As such, we're fully stocked on a baby potty, a second one to take to work, pull-ups and a copy of "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day", which I still need to read before we can start. Add to that our Dora sticker and Hello Kitty stamp rewards system, and we're getting all set.

I may still change my mind, or feel things out and see if she's truly ready. Either way, we're definitely looking into it. Any tips are appreciated!

17 Months of Nursing and Going Strong.

I have a confession to make: I have a 17-month-old that I still breastfeed, and I can't remember a time anymore when I gave a damn what people think about it.

I'm looking at you, unnamed family member.

Anywho, there it is. I'm an extended breastfeeder. And while my fifteen-year-old self cringes at the thought, my mature, 27-year-old self (yeah, I recently turned 27...woot woot!) says, "Don't be a judgmental b, girl!"

I made this proclamation on Twitter the other day, and was met with a few responses. Of course, there are some lovely ladies I know who are in the same boat who tweeted something along the lines of, "Way to go, B!" in response. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those I know are still breastfeeding also who said nothing for one reason or another, as well as those who either voiced or kept silent their disapproval for whatever reason. But the most discouraging response of all was the one woman who said, "Me too, but only because of (insert reason here), and we're going to wean soon, and I only do it (x amount) per day and NEVER in public."

I don't mean at all to belittle her, as I'm proud to say I know her and that she is still giving her little one what's best for him in their particular situation. I just felt sad that we live in a society where you automatically feel the need to take the defensive for something as healthy and natural as breastfeeding.

Lord, have mercy. Who ever would've thought when I begrudgingly posted that I was going to breastfeed since it was the best thing but that I didn't "want" to, that I'd turn into such a lactivist?!

Anyhow, this is my way of standing in support of all those who breastfeed, whether for six months, or nine months, or a year or longer. In fact, I may very well continue to nurse Ava until she's two, as I'm allowing her to self-wean, and she's still very much attached to nursing. It's not hurting her, her physical and emotional development are exceptional and she's as healthy as can be, and mama has been to the gym a total of three times (for yoga class!) in the past two years, and weighs less than before I was pregnant. I'm really in no hurry to stop :)

So if you're feeling like you're alone in breastfeeding a toddler, or ashamed by it, DON'T! I respect you! I admire you! Me, your pediatrician, your baby, the health care system of the US - we all thank you!

Lunch on Lake Travis

This was our view:

This was Ava's view:

Isn't she just the daintiest little sleeper? :)

Summer is Here!

If there is any time of the year I wish I was a teacher instead of a nanny, it's RIGHT. NOW. School is officially out for summer in sunny Austin, Texas, and while I don't work a rigorous schedule by anyone's standards, I still work during the summer, and wish I didn't ;)

Then again, the rest of my year is pretty fantastic (at least until this fall, when I start my new job...whomp whomp), so I still definitely get the better deal :D



And A's adorable rogue curls:

Wordless Wednesday - Kids N Play

Ava is getting increasingly independent. I've encouraged that from the beginning, since I don't want my neuroses or fears to limit what she's capable of doing on her own. D, on the other hand, took one look at the third picture and said, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"