Toddler Shenanigans

Welcome to my world...



While "driving" my mom's car, Link found some of her burt's bees lipstick. He loves to use my chap stick, only mine isn't tinted. Ooops! Sorry Dave, I know that one kind of hurts for you to see.

He is such a scavenger, he digs through all my drawers and closets, looking for cool "toys." This is a push pin I discovered in the lock of my desk.

This is NOT the first time, the stinker has colored on the walls. I have gone through 2 magic erasers; however, it was the first time he blamed me for it. "Momma, what you do dat, crayon on da wall."

I promise, I didn't stage this. He came out of my room, just like this, from playing in the closet. Of course, the hangers were being used as a weapon. I just love his sound effects!

My Handyman

Dave started woodworking in high school, and picked it up again last year. Below are some of the projects he has carved with a wood lathe or by hand. We decided to call his style, "Soft Modern." He is always up for a challenge, so if you an idea that you would like, I bet he could whip it up!

Last year, Dave's Christmas present was a wood lathe. He has made some beautiful blush and shaving brushes.

My parent's neighbors needed a custom grill table for their Egg Grill. I love the look of cedar wood!





His largest project has been this nativity set for our good friend. The pictures don't do this gorgeous set justice. My favorite piece is of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, carved out of Olive wood.

I think homemade Christmas presents are the best, especially when you don't have a ton of money to spend. Dave carved these mixing spoons for family members.




Just for fun, he helped a friend at work with his Christmas present, a Demon Deacon cornhole board for tailgating.

His next big project is a king-size sleigh bed. I can't wait for him to get this piece done, because this is one we are going to keep!

Birthday and Other Updates

Dave only has one year left of his "twenties." We actually had 2 birthday celebrations for the birthday boy! Our 2nd party was in Hickory last weekend. Dave has been wanting fried chicken for a while, but we havn't found a great recipe yet. Dad tried to recreate his mom's fried chicken. My Grandma Helen made the absolutely best fried chicken! It was always an experience when she made it, because he kitchen wasn't the largest and she didn't have a dishwasher. I have some of the best memories of cooking with her! Anyway, Dad did his best, but the chicken pieces were just too big. This made the outside too crispy and the inside not quite cooked.

Even though the chicken wasn't a success, it was still tasty and we still had fun. The Edwards came over to celebrate too. I made an almond pound cake with a dutch chocolate ice cream center and dark chocolate frosting (per Dave's request). Lincoln LOVES to sing Happy Birthday and help blow out candles. Rachel topped my cake with Dave's present: Dr. Pepper and Double Stuffed Oreos!

Potty Training is going so much better, now that Dave showed Lincoln how to stand up. I guess he feels like a big boy, because he is doing great now! He only has 1 or 2 accidents a day, and it's usually my fault from forgetting to take him to the bathroom. This morning, the first thing he did was go to the bathroom and start taking down his pants and diaper. I was also impressed that he is ok to go in public restrooms like Wal-mart and the church. He made us all laugh when he came up with his own version of "Follow the Prophet" a church nursery song. He started singing, "Pee Pee in da Potty" to the same tune.

Lincoln is also surprising me with how much he knows about letters. Dave's parents gave him a letter Leap Frog for Christmas, and it is amazing how much he is picking up from that. We were at the park and Lincoln said, "H Momma." I looked over and someone had spraypainted an H on the bridge. My mom said, "That's right Lincoln, H is for House, lets go back to my house." Lincoln replied, "Helicopter." What?!? I know he says helicopter a lot, but I really think he was telling us H stood for Helicopter.

When do you give up?

So today has been day 3 of serious potty training, and I had to put Lincoln in a diaper for the last hour that he was awake. I had just had enough of cleaning up messes. I must have cleaned 15 different pee spots off the carpet! The most frustrating thing, is I KNOW he can do it, because he did fantastic yesterday. I used a trick that Vic told me about: I would give him a cup of warm water to put his hand it and it immediately triggered him to go number 1. I think from that, he figured out how to hold it in. Today the trick didn't work at all, not once. We would sit in the bathroom for over 30 minutes, he wouldn't go and then 30 seconds -2 minutes later, he would have an accident. Yesterday if he started to go, he would hold it and go to the potty to finish. The world was a bright, beautiful, sunny day yesterday! Please come back yesterday.

I have heard not to make potty training a battle, but I feel this time clock ticking...I have got to keep trying! For the next couple days, I am going to change things up a bit: no reading in the bathroom or spending more than 5 minutes. We will try to go every 15-20 minutes. If it doesn't work, and I sure pray it does, I will just give up until it gets warm. At least with warm weather I can put the little bugger outside and he can make as many messes as he needs to learn how to use the potty.

On a positive note, Dave and I both have joined gyms. Dave started back at a Mixed Martial Arts gym, and I joined the YWCA. Perfect timing, because exercise is a great stress reliever!

Oh dang, I shouldn't be writing these complaints today, it's Dave's birthday. We had a fun dinner celebration, and now he is getting his fitness on at his MMA training. Happy Birthday to my "Prince of a Man."