A Taste Of Home

We've lived in North Carolina for a little over 8 years now. I love my friends, my job, the weather, being so close to the ocean, and many other parts of North Carolina life but there will always be a small part of me that longs to go home. I miss my family, the lakes, the beautiful summers, and our favorite vacation spots.

This summer, we had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite places in Michigan, Mackinac Island. The island has held a special place in my heart since my days of being in Girl Scouts. My husband and kids had never been and I was excited to share with them some of my favorite childhood memories! They loved every minute of it, but their most favorite part had to be going through all of the fudge shops. Watching them make fudge by hand, smelling all the smells, and getting to sample what I'm pretty certain totaled a couple hundred pounds of samples, what's not to enjoy!?!?!

Now, we can enjoy this small piece of home near our current home! Kilwins who is well known for their ice cream and Mackinac fudge is located just a short drive from us. I love that it's a company that was founded in Michigan and continues to use their original recipes. We took the kids today and it was amazing!

I'm pretty certain they thought I was crazy for taking pictures of all things Michigan, but I just couldn't help it! There's nothing like REAL Superman ice cream or Blue Moon, or Traverse City Cherry! The only thing that could have made this place better would have been if a horse and buggy drove by while we sat outside and ate!

Now, when I have that urge to go back home, I can head on over to Kilwins of Birkdale Village for a much closer version of what I miss so much. I'm glad my kids will get to grow up knowing the many tastes of home. I know we'll be back many, many more times! After all, you can take us out of Michigan, but you can't ever take the Michigan out of us!

Hunter's 1st Haircut

Why must they grow up so fast? All 3 of our kids have grown seemingly overnight, but I think Hunter has grown the quickest. I'm sure it has something to do with him being the baby, and our last baby but I'm just not ready for him to be a big boy yet!

Hunter has the prettiest blonde hair and blue eyes I ever did see (and I'm not biased, I promise!). As he's gotten older his hair has developed pretty ringlet curls which I adore. I hadn't gotten him a haircut before now in fear that his curls would forever leave, and lets face it he's a pretty handsome dude with long hair! But it's gotten a little wild over the last few weeks so I decided to bring him in for just a trim.

The Before:

The during:

The After:

It's not a huge change, but I didn't want that. I want him to stay a toddler as long as he can. I'm not ready to let go, just yet.

Potty Training Round 3: Day 2

When I woke up this morning I made sure my expectations were pretty low. Being only our 2nd day of potty training I expected we'd have tons of accidents and maybe a little bit of progress especially after how our first day had gone. I also decided to bypass the underwear and continue training him naked. 

The day started out on a positive note though, he woke up dry after sleeping for 10 hours straight. Because he hadn't had much success the day before, we chose to put him to bed in a diaper. Our morning continued to go well! Hunter woke up around 7:00 and used the potty when asked and even asked to go several times! He had his first accident around 10:30 and then another around 11:00. The rest of the day was uneventful. I asked him about every half hour if he needed to go and he frequently asked to go potty on his own in between.

After lunch Hunter went outside to feed our dog Zoe. While he was feeding her I could see the wheels turning in his head. He then attempted to water the grass with a well aimed stream. It must be an instinct in our boys to go when they are outside. He hasn't ever seen his father or his brother do it but just seemed to know what to do anyway!

After nap time which he woke up dry from, I decided to brave it and let him try wearing underwear. He was excited to wear them yet again! They also made it so he could go outside to play with his brother and sister and to help daddy do some yard work. He continued to do well throughout the rest of the evening. Even though he did so well during the day, we again chose to put him in a diaper at night. I'll probably wait a few more days before braving the night in underwear for the first time.

Heidi the puppy is also doing well with her potty training! She also made it through the day with only two accidents in the house! We're making progress all the way around!

Potty Training Round 3: Day 1

Today's the day! It's all or nothing around here. When we start potty training we don't look back. I think it's too confusing and makes it harder on the child if you only expect them to use the potty sometimes and let them go back to the diaper other times. With our first two kids, I trained them naked for the first couple of days that way they had a chance to figure out the signals their body sends to them when they need to go. After all, what happens in their diaper has been a secret for the last two years. Hunter already has some control, so I planned to start him off today in undies instead. 

Our morning started out with a wet diaper which is very unusual for him, but he also slept an hour later than he usually does. He used the potty for me right away and was excited to wear his new Thomas underwear. That pair was very short lived. He only made it about 15 minutes before our first accident of the day. He changed to a clean pair, cleaned up the mess and he was off to play again.

About 15 minutes later he comes back downstairs announcing that he had peed yet again. This time, it's game on. I realized he doesn't have as much control as I had though he had so I set my timer for 15 minutes to try to catch him before the next accident and we had success with the timer. I reset it for 20 minutes and off he ran. 10 minutes later I had another mess to clean.

Just hanging around watching tv.

At this point I decided maybe the underwear were the problem. He didn't seem phased by wetting them so we went full on naked boy training. It seemed to help a bit, but we still had several accidents. One of them happened just moments after he had gone on the potty and while he was washing his hands lol!

Our potty training fun quickly came to a screaching halt when someone decided that it was a good idea to stick a piece of taco meat up his nose. We ended up having to go to the doctor to fish it out. I didn't think they would appreciate my toddlers messes, so we temerarally went back into a diaper. 

To my surprise, when we returned home from our foreign object removal, he had a dry diaper! Let the potty training resume! The rest of the night went much the same. Tons of reminding and lots of accidents.

Hunter is starting to figure this whole thing out though. He started dancing in the kitchen and looked at me and said "Hunter don't pee!" Knowing him, I knew this meant he needed to go and was trying to hold it. Sure enough, we had success! He actually did this twice yesterday!

Hunter found a pair of big brother's underwear and figured if he can't wear his, he just wear brother's.

Here's hoping tomorrow brings a few more successes and a few less messes! If he trains anything like his older siblings, it'll take a day or two of naked toddler training before he's ready for big boy underwear but that's ok. He's only two after all, and this is a huge move for him! Plus I really think I'm good with being done buying diapers and changing them. :)

Potty Training Round 3: Preperation

As much as I hate to see my baby grow up, it's time to ditch the diapers and start potty training. He turned 2 in late April and has been showing signs that he's ready for quite some time. He's been dry through naps and night time for several months, pees on the potty when we wants, and will even pee on us on purpose when we're changing his diaper. <---- That one has been a real joy. ;-)

To get us ready for this adventure, we went on a shopping spree at Target tonight. Hunter was able to pick out two packs of underwear of his choice. He was a little overwhelmed by the choices at first, but finally settled on Thomas the Train and Nemo. We actually went with the intention of only getting one package but those big blues eyes convinced me to let him get two.  

I mean, he was pretty proud, and who could tell this face no!?!

After the underwear were picked out, we moved on to potty seats. Since he already knows what the big toilet is for and has been using it on occasion, I figured we'd skip the stand alone chair and just go with one that sits atop the toilet. Of course, he HAD to have the Paw Patrol seat. We used this same brand and style with our other two kids and had good luck with them, so I went with it. I wanted one that had a decent sized splash guard because well he is a boy, as well as one that he was excited about using. Plus it's made in the USA and was relatively inexpensive, a win all the way around!

With supplies in hand we headed home for the night. I also recommend some sort of reward, M&M's, skittles, something small and yummy that they would find special. Our plan is to stay home for several days and work on potty training. Since he's already off to a great start, I plan to start the morning out with him just wearing underwear, but we'll see how it goes! For now, I'm going to continue to try to hold back my tears as I watch my baby boy grow up way too fast. :'( 

Portrait Innovations 3D Technology Review

We took a trip to our local Portrait Innovations studio last week for a peek at some amazing new technology, and I was not let down! Let me start by saying the employees at their studio in Ballantyne Commons were wonderful and their customer service was fantastic. The studio was impressive, and they put my typically very nervous and shy 9 year old son at ease. It isn't easy getting a good picture of him, but they managed!

Now, on to this amazing technology! They placed Tyler into what they have nicknamed 'the spaceship' which is a small room where you are surrounded by 120 cameras pointing at all different angles. Sounds intimidating, but it wasn't. These cameras all fire off at once, and from there the computer works it's magic to combine the images into a single 3D image which will then be carved into a 3D figure of your choice.

I think the hardest part of the entire experience was when Tyler was asked which character he wanted to be turned into! There were many choices and he really wanted all of them. There's something for everyone, that's for sure! He could have been turned into a football player, basketball player, or even a zombie! He finally settled on the karate guy, and couldn't have been happier with the end result!

It took about a week for our mini Tyler's to arrive back to the store. Their accuracy and attention to details impressed us right away. Right down to the flat spot on the back of his head and his missing front teeth! I keep moving him around the house just so I can hear the kids ask where Tyler went.

He also had a LEGO head made of himself which you can place on any LEGO figure body that you already have. So far Tyler has been a farmer, a fireman, and a Minecraft character. I foresee many fun nights playing around with LEGO Tyler!

There are so many things that you can do with these figurines. From gifts to grandparents, to keepsakes of your own children, to wedding cake toppers. I wish this technology would have been around when we got married many years ago, how neat to be turned into your own wedding cake topper!

The Ballantyne studio is one of only a few locations offering this technology at this time. They are located in the Promenade Shipping Center at 5349 Ballantyne Commons Parkway. You can get in touch with them by phone at (704) 844-8633 or check them out on their website. From now until July 31, 2016 they are offering a 25% discount on your 3D figurine purchase, so don't delay!

Portrait Innovations ~ 3D Figurine and LEGO Figures

I'm a sucker when it comes to pictures of my kids and keepsakes of their childhood. I just can't get enough of them! Every year I make a point to travel to a local photographer to get pictures taken of our each of our children to help document the growth and change they go through each year. This year, I'm excited to try something a little different!

A local portrait studio, Portrait Innovations in Ballantyne NC, now has the capability to take photographs and turn them into 3D figurines and even LEGO characters! I am excited to try out this new technology in the next few days and so is my 9 year old son. He's over the moon with the thought of being turned into a LEGO figure!

Stay tuned for more information on our experience, a coupon to apply toward your own purchase, and my thoughts on the product! In the mean time, you can find out more information about Portrait Innovations and their products through their facebook page, on Instagram, or on their webpage.