About Us

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We love life, especially our life. We have 2 great kids and we just enjoy doing things together as a family.

Love and Light to all who enter this site

Love and Light to all who enter this site. This is a blog about our life, living in the mountains with our two little boys. Everything from the trials of being a same sex couple in a small town, to finding ways to keep our boys entertained, places to go and things do on a budget. The good, the bad, and the ugly for anyone who wants a good laugh, some helpful tips, or is just looking for something fun to read. Welcome, we hope you enjoy our story.















Helpful Tips from one Mama to another

       Potty Training.....UGH!  I think that pretty much sums it up!  Some kids are easy, others....not so much.  Neither one of my boys caught on too quick.  I started training Logan when he was about 15 months old, and it took me until he was 2 and 1/2 just to master peeing.  I was crazy when it came to trying to teach him.  I tried everything I could think of.  Rewarding him with treats, not the best idea. He would try to go and couldn't and still expected a treat for trying, and the sucker that I was I couldn't say no.  I tried throwing Cheerios in the potty and telling him to shoot at them, but then I caught him looking in the potty for cereal... Gross.  I tried Pull Ups....BIG WASTE OF MONEY!!!  I bought big boy underpants, man I did A LOT of laundry that year.  My friend Ellen even suggested that I let him run around the house with nothing on.  There are 10 kids in her family and she said that's how her mother trained them.  Well my heart goes out to that woman, I got tired of scrubbing the carpet after one day.  I would have to say in my opinion real underpants are the way to go.  Yes you do a heck of a lot more laundry but when they have an accident in, them they realize it more so than they do in a diaper or a Pull Up.  There not absorbent.  So when it came time to start training Wyatt, I went out and bought tons of underpants.  I would let him pick them out, he liked that.  At first he was peeing like every 20 minutes.  I was like OMG kid how can you pee so much?  So I started limiting his sippy cup.  He hated that but, I really needed to do it anyway.  We started with a sticker chart, it worked well for a while.  He was going on the potty almost as much as he was in his pants.  One day I took him to the bathroom and after he went I said, " Good job buddy!   Mama has to go too."  So I sat down as he was picking out his sticker and he turns around and hands me one and says, " One for me for peeing and one for you, good job Mama!"  How cute is that?! It took quiet a while for him to learn control and to recognize the feeling of needing to go but eventually he got it.  Pooping on the other hand was a different story.  He was a closet poo per. LOL.  All of a sudden he would disappear, and I knew he was pooping.  Most of the time he'd go to his room, sometimes I would catch him behind the recliner.  He was so excited when he would pee on the potty, but wanted nothing to do with pooping on it.  One day he took his pant off and pooped right on my living room floor!  He would go and then come back out and play and not even tell me.  He was perfectly content just sitting in his own poop.  It didn't bother him at all. LOL.  I realized I needed to get a handle on this and fast.
              Mother's day came and Ang took the boys out to buy me something.  Wyatt insisted on this purple piggy bank.  She said he picked it up and said, "I want to get this for Mama."  She tried to sway him towards other things but he held onto that pig throughout the whole store.  (Those kind of gifts are my favorite)  When he gave it to me he said,"Happy Birf-day Mama, purple piggy, Best present EVA!!"  I was cracking up!  He was always going in my room and getting that pig, he wanted to play with it.
               Back to potty training... The sticker thing was getting old.  So one day I said," Wyatt come here I have a surprise for you."  I took him in the bathroom and next to the potty was the pig.  " This is Poopie the pig and she's hungry.  She likes to eat quarters.  Every time you poop on the potty, we are going to feed her a quarter.  And when she gets full we will take those quarters and go get ice cream."  He was immediately impressed.  Needles to say this was the trick I'd been waiting for.  It totally worked.
              Every mother goes through this, and every mother knows each child is different.  The key to surviving it is to be patience, consistent, and willing to try anything to find out what works for your child.
I would also recommend Elmo's potty time movie.  Logan really liked that, Wyatt not so much.   The potty's that make the fake flushing noise or play music when they go, are kind of expansive and they just scared my kids.  They were paying attention to the feeling of going in the potty and trying to listen to it and all of a sudden this loud song started playing, it freaked Logan out.
             We do use a pull up at night now instead of a diaper.  He likes it because he can take them on and off himself, and one Pull Up a day is very affordable.  Just remember, lots of praise, lots of love, and pack lots of extra undies and pants when your out and about!


Poopie the Pig
 

Helpful Tips from one Mama to another

   The Binky Fairy and her magic box


  The day finally came, the day I had been dreading for a while.  It was time to say goodbye to the Binky.  Wyatt was 2 and barely talking.  He used to only use it at bedtime and long drives in the car, but now it was becoming a constant.  Always in his mouth.  This wasn't an issue for me with Logan.  The first time I tried to give him a Binky, he spit it right back out at me.  I was relieved he didn't want it.  He never even sucked his thumb.  Wyatt on the other hand was a crier.  I was thrilled when he took that Binky and it calmed him.  He even slept better than Logan did.  But my little YY was'nt an infant anymore, and you could see the Binky was a problem.  I kept one in my purse, in the car, at my parents house, and had like 5 in my kitchen cupboard.  We were always terrified of loosing one.  So, broken heart and all I sat him down and tried to explain to him that it was time to start letting it go.  Yea, Ok he's 2, this did not go well.  I thought about it for a couple of days.  How can I make this easier on him?  I was taking away his security, his comfort, his...friend.  I had this little box so I put it in his room one night after he was asleep.  When he woke up the next morning, I said,"  Wyatt look!  What's this?"  He was intrigued.  I told him that it was a magic box from The Binky Fairy.  I said," Every morning when you wake up, you put your Binky in the box, and when you lay down for your nap we will get it back out."  "UH Uh" he said, meaning  NO WAY mom!  But I insisted.  Ok so he wined all morning, I knew this was to be expected.  I never saw a child so happy to take a nap.  When nap time was over I took the box off the shelf and opened it up.  He cried but I made him do it.  Feeling like the worst mother in the world, I listened to him wine all day.  I did this routine for a week, and after about the third day he was getting used to it.  When we went out I didn't take it with us.  Instead of it being my crutch just as much as it was his, I decided to take whatever tantrum was gonna come wherever it was gonna happen.  He did really well I have to say.
     The second week was a little tougher. On Monday morning when he woke up, I told him,"  Ok bud today we're gonna try something new, your getting to be such a big boy now without your Binky and mummy is so proud of you.  Let's put Binky in your magic box and I'll give it back to you at bedtime."  He looked confused.  He said,"Nap time."  "No, bedtime"  I replied. "You can do it, I know you can. Now let's go have some breakfast."  Not wanting to dwell on the situation I quickly moved on to something else.  Well nap time came and of coarse he balled.  He cried the whole time and didn't nap at all.  This went on for 3 days.  No naps, miserable all day and by bed time I just wanted to give in.  I wanted to shove that Binky in his mouth and pour myself a glass of wine and lock myself in the bathroom.  But then I tried to think about how he felt, how hard this must be for him.  At bedtime I took the box down off the shelf and gave him his best friend.  He crawled in bed with is Binky and his woobie and sighed.  He looked so sad, so tired, and so relieved at the same time.  I kissed him and told him,"I know this is hard for you buddy, but you're doing great and I am so proud of you.  I love you so much."  With tears in my eyes I said,"Goodnight."  and left the room.  Day 4 was completely different, just like the week before.  At nap time he didn't even ask.  He went right in and fell asleep no problem.  Maybe he was so exhausted from the lack of sleep, I don't know but he slept and slept well that day.  The rest of the week went well.  He was starting to get used to the routine of getting up and putting the Binky in the magic box and then he just go about his day.
Week number three.  This was the week I was dreading most.  When he woke up on Monday morning I said,"  Ok Wyatt it's time to put your Binky in the Binky box forever.  Your a big boy now and you don't need it anymore.  We will put it in the magic box and keep it on your shelf.  If you can sleep without it, at the end of the week The Binky Fairy will leave you a surprise."  He wasn't impressed but he put it in the box anyway and went about his business.  Bed time came, he cried of coarse but eventually fell asleep.  The whole week was like that.  He'd cry every night and I would try my best to reassure him, that I was proud and he was doing a great job.  But I knew I was breaking his little heart.  Tough love sucks!  And as mothers we have to do it more than anyone else.  The next Monday morning when Wyatt woke up I opened up the box and it was empty, The Binky Fairy had left him a note and $5.00.  I read him  the note, Thanking him for giving his Binky to her, how much she liked it and would keep it always, how proud she was of him, and how she wanted him to take his money and buy something for himself as a reward.  After breakfast I we took him to the store and let him pick out something.  He walked around the store with his new toy very proud that he was buying it himself.
     Occasionally he would mention his Binky but that faded away.  He started talking a lot more and we were surprised at how much he could say and how well he could say it.  He could talk, he just didn't much because of that Binky in his mouth all the time.  About a year later he was sitting on the recliner and he dropped a little figurine down in the cushion.  He reached his hand down to get it and he pulled out a Binky!  He stuck it right in his mouth and yelled,"Mama, BINKY!"  Shocked I said,"Where did you get that?"  He pointed to the cushion and I said,"Get that out of your mouth, your a big boy not a baby."  He pulled it out laughing and handed it to me.  It was nasty!  It had fuzz and dirt all over it.  Gross.  I thought I had gotten rid of all the Binky's but I guess this one got left behind.  Now when he sees a Binky he tells me those are for babies and that he's a big boy now. 
     Those were the hardest 3 weeks of my life as a mom so far.  But I am sure it was a lot harder for Wyatt.                                                

How to Prevent Head Lice


If you have kids in school or daycare, I'm sure your dreading the day that note gets sent home saying someone has lice.  Help keep your kids safe by using this one simple tool.
12 drops of Tea Tree Oil in your shampoo bottle.  Ask your local pharmacist where you can find it, most stores carry it.  Lice hate Tea Tree Oil, even if there is an out break your child will be safe.  We have been using it ever since Logan started preschool.  You do have to be careful when rinsing not to get it in their eyes.  We fold up a washcloth for them to cover their eyes with.  Hopefully we never experience lice and we hope you don't either!

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