roll call

/An update to THIS post about my van almost exploding while I was driving it:

Last Friday we got the call that all the parts were in for all our recalls. Brent took the afternoon off to go and take care of it...but I GRACIOUSLY said I could handle it and handed him Becks and told him Blythe was in the bathroom and beelined for the van. kidding. sort of. Anyway, since we had so many recalls to get fixed, they told me it could take up to two and a half hours. TWO AND A HALF HOURS? < That is not exasperation. It is excitement. A family friend [one of those good ole neighbors from back in the day, actually] picked me up and dropped me off at Panera Bread where I witnessed a girl get fired, had high-fives repeatedly requested of me from a 5 year old, joined in  eaves-dropped on the best conversation a group of 8 elderly men were having ["She's a car-jacking waiting to happen" was one of the favorite things I heard], but mainly I sat next to the fireplace and read. For two and a half blissful hours.

 I secretly wish the air bag light would start flashing again.

/An update to THIS post about my struggles to potty train: 

Whew. It was funny/not-funny-at-all to go back and read that post because: 1. It was not fun. 2. I thought we had "figured it out" and thought she was done. HAHAHAHA.

She really did okay after those first 2-3 intense months. But THEN. December came and it. was. awful. It was like it was July all over again. Girlfriend just all of a sudden FORGOT how to not pee/poop her pants. I thought she was maybe sick. Or we were too busy. Or something. I had no idea what to do. And then we traveled the Springfield to visit my aunt and POOF! No accidents. What the heck? And from that trip forward, I would say she really is FINALLY potty-trained. Does that mean we still aren't careful to not make her laugh too hard? No way. But she so rarely has accidents and I so rarely think about asking her/taking her because she just tells me now that I would say we are through the fog.

My sister told me when we were in the thick of it last fall, "One day soon you will go an hour without thinking about taking her potty. And then that hour will become hours. And then days. And pretty soon it will have been weeks since an accident." To which I said, "Liar, liar, pants on fire." But she was right. Sort of. Because it didn't really feel soon, but we are here. And if you are potty training...God bless you. And I mean that from the very bottom of my heart.

An update to THIS post about me not being hip or trendy and not understanding how to wear shoes without socks in the winter:

You ladies pulled through and gave me a lot of great tips and options! I haven't ordered them yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to check these out:

source

An update to THIS post about the using the devotional "I Can Learn the Bible" with Blythe:

I would only update a few things about this, the further in Blythe and I have gotten. I still think this is a great devotional for kids and is a super awesome tool to have and use! We love it! I would maybe edit my thoughts on the age-appropriateness: it may be/is a little bit beyond toddlers [a lot of the analogies refer to school/homework/teachers etc. and the general lesson is a little advanced for Blythe], but Blythe still enjoys it, still can understand the verses, and I am usually able to tweak the lesson just a hair for her to relate to more. I would still love if the verses weren't from the kid's bible, but when I like a different translation more I just use it. It's way cuter to hear her say "righteousMess" than "doing what is right". 

And I haven't had any trouble thinking of a small craft to accompany each of the week's verses/lessons. It's been fun! 

An update to THIS post about me taking pictures and giving stuff away:

In December I ended my giveaway month with my own personal one, giving away a mini photo session. In that post I also mentioned that I would be giving away a discount price for my blog readers and that they could lock in the price-- several of you did and I can't wait to schedule your pictures soon! [Soon...SOON! You hear that, weather?! Get warm!... though I took some of my favorite pictures ever last week IN THE SNOW, and I'll be sharing those soon. So that's always an option. I'm up for it if you are!]

All that to say, I have a list of people who locked in the 15% discount price on a session, and I got a new lens last week and I am giddy with excitement. SO I decided that if you still want a discount, just let me know to add you to the list by the end of February [which is Saturday].

Any other updates I am forgetting that you are dying to know?