Rocks in my pocket

When I was hired at Panera, I had a hard time warming up to all my coworkers.  I was pretty shy and kept to myself.  But I did hit it off with one girl right away.  Even though we are polar opposites, Amy is my favorite person to work with.  She is free spirited and relaxed, she doesn't let much phase her and tends to do things spur of the moment.  She views the world differently than I do and is very spiritual.  She keeps rocks in her pocket at work and says that they help alter your bad moods.  

I always inquire as to which rocks she has that day and get jealous of the cooler looking ones.   For my birthday she gave me a bag of fun rocks!  Now I can keep some in my pocket and see if they help.  I had her tell me the names of each one.

My favorite- a penguin made out of red agate

She didn't know this one

Quartz 

Hemitite

Moss agate

Apache tear

Uquinite

Silicone carbide

Moonstone

Thanks Amy for the rocks!  You picked me out some pretty cool ones.  I will make sure to always keep one on me.

Play date

This morning Jake and I went on a play date!  I have been asking friends and mom 2 mom boards for ideas on how to get Jake around other kids.  A friend from high school invited us over to play with her son who is the same age as Jake.  They live fairly close so off we went.  

Jake cried and laid down as soon as we got there, but as soon as he saw some trucks and tractors he immediately started playing.  He had no problem interacting with my friend (Lynsie), but stayed away from her son Sam.  They avoided each other at all costs.  By the time we left, though, they were playing side by side, but not with each other.  Hopefully, the more interaction Jake has with other kids, the more he will want to play with them.  

The dreaded 3-0

That's right, this year I turn 30! Gasp......  I feel so old.  But as far as birthdays goes, this one was pretty good.  

We all went to my parents for dinner.  This year I chose a Mexican bar.  We had all the fixings for nachos, tacos, and burritos.  It was pretty delicious!

After dinner I opened my gifts and then had cake. 

 I got a handful of quirky picture frames, gift cards to Kohls, Amazon (from Ben and Allison) and Barnes and Nobel (from a girl I work with).  I also got the Cinderella movie and a wallet and fine tip markers from Jenny.  My sister in law Beth sent me the Throne of Glass series, all in hardcover.

After a couple of hours of being with my family, Jenny treated me to a movie and popcorn at the theater.  With 2 small boys and working, I haven't been to the theater in a very long time, so it was wonderful treat.  We saw the movie Sisters and it was hilarious.  After the movie we went to target but found nothing, so we left quickly and ate dinner at Mod pizza.  

We had ice cream for dessert and by that time it was 10 pm and time for bed.

Thank you to everyone who made my 30th birthday a bit easier to handle.  I had a great day and enjoyed myself throughly.  

Coloring fiend

On my days off you can find me coloring.  I only color when the boys are asleep so they don't mess up my pencils, try to color themselves or bump me.  I like to sit on the bed with music playing and my pencils organized by color groups.

I find coloring very relaxing and stress free. I let my mind go blank and the biggest worry I have is which color to use where. I bought a 12 pack of pencils and quickly realized I needed more.  I now have the 50 count and the color choices are much better.  

My mom gave me 3 coloring books for Christmas and my first thought was, "I don't have time for this".  With working and caring for 2 boys, there is no free time.  But since my reading has gone down due to lame books, I find I have plenty of time to color a page a day.

  The 3 books

I'm getting better at picking the perfect color combinations and the pictures are turning out better than when I first started.  Here are some of my favorites:

If you ever feel stressed or overwhelmed I suggest buying an adult coloring book ( don't get a child one.  They are too easy and have way too much free space.  Plus you don't scribble as much.) It's calming to just sit and fill all the tiny details.

Cal Pal

Since I bragged about Jake in the last post, I will now brag about Cal. :) 

This cute little guy turned 9 months on the 10th and is growing by leaps and bounds.  He is now standing unassisted for long periods and is very close to taking his first steps.  He will walk when we hold his hands but refuses to take a step by himself.  He likes to dive right into our laps instead of taking a step.  

His favorite thing to do is stand in front of his little chair and then fall into it head first. He laughs and coos, then gets up and does it again.  

He loves to eat, takes after his mama :) and sometimes seems to be an endless pit.  As much as he eats, he's still in the lower percentile for height and weight, but that could all change as he grows.  He is always so happy and smiling.  

Such a sweet silly boy!  

Potty training champ

About 2 weeks ago we decided to try potty training Jacob.  We agreed if he was still having lots of accidents or not showing signs of trying to use the potty after a week, we would stop and try again later.  I really want him out of diapers.  The biggest reason is his big body doesn't fit well into diapers anymore because he's so big.  Also because diapers are expensive.  

The first couple of days he had lots of accidents and cried every time he sat on the potty (my parents bought us a child seat for Christmas).  

We went through lots of underwear and pants.  I read that when potty training do not use diapers because they will not feel the sensation of pee on them and will never be uncomfortable.  Plus they learn to rely on the diaper instead of trying to pee.  By the third day we was starting to pee on the potty!  By the 4th day, he only had 1 accident.  By the 5th day, he was telling us when he had to go. By day 6 it was like he has been peeing on the potty for months!

Look at these cute buns!

I cannot even began to express how proud I am of him.  I have heard horror stories of potty training and figured it would take weeks to fully train him.  He's also very young and many children don't start training until 3.  It's has now been 2 weeks and he hasn't had any accidents.  He may not talk yet, but he is one smart little boy and grasps and learns new thi gs very quickly.

 

Reading challenge completed

 If you remember, I had a post about finding a reading challenge and asking my sister in law to take part in it with me.  I am finally finished!  Took me a couple days longer due to being burnt out and not reading any of the books for a couple of months, then I got a job and my reading time was cut dramatically.  But I'm done and probably won't take part in another one for a long time.  I did find some pretty interesting topics and categories, but most were time consuming and boring.  

Here's the official list with my choices:

-a book with 500 pages-Reached

-a classic romance-Pursuasion

-a book turned into a movie-Labor Day

-a book published in 2015-Fairest

-a book with a number in the title-I am number four

-a book written by someone under 30- Hyperbole and a half

-a book with nonhuman characters-Gods behaving Badly

-a funny book-Bossypants

-a book by a female author- Dating Big Bird

-Mystery/thriller-Gone Girl

-a book with 1word title-Crossed

-Short stories-This is not an accident

-a book set in a different country- The Juliet Club

-nonfiction-Choose your own autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris

-popular authors first book-Cinder

-a book by an author I love but haven't read-Sone of Neptune

-book recommended by a friend-The Lost Hero

-Pulitzer prize-So Big

-based off of a true story-Diary of a young girl

-a book on the bottom of my to read list-Will Grayson, Will Grayson

-book my mom loves-Pawn of Prophacy

-a book that scares me-The Girl on the Train

-a book more than 100 years old-The Wizard Of Oz

-a book based on its cover-The Darkest Part of the Forest

-a book read in high school-The Great Gatsby

-a memoir-Julie and Julia

-a book finished in a day-Top 20 Clues Your Clueless

-a book with antonyms in the title-Inside Out

-a book set where I want to visit-The Rose Garden

-a book from 1986-Watchmen

-a book with a bad review-Lionheart

-a trilogy- Birthmarked 

-a book from my childhood-The Hobbit

-a love triangle-Matched

-a book set in the future-Across the Universe

-a book set in high school-Obsidian

-a book with a color in the title- Greenglass House

-a book that made me cry-Wonder

-a book with magic-The Magicians

-a graphic novel-Twilight

-an author I've never read-Night Circus

-a book owned but not read- House of Suns

-a book that takes place in my hometown-Middlesex

-a book in a different language-Battle Royale

-a book set during Christmas-Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

-an author with my initials-Garden Spells

-a play-Peter Pan

-a banned book- Diary of a Part time Indian

-a book based off of a tv show-Dead after Dark

-a book started but never finished-Outside In

In all, I read 52 books because 1 category was a trilogy.  I'm so glad I can go back to reading books that I pick and not ones chosen for me.