Many thanks

I've been so busy being thankful, I haven't had time to post :) But better late than never! So, what am I thankful for? 

• I'm thankful for my lovely daughter Molly, who sleeps like an angel, runs like the wind, and only rarely throws tantrums.
• I'm thankful for my parents and Jason's parents, who love their granddaughter to pieces and make it possible for Jason and I to have the occasional, much-needed date night.
• I'm thankful that my sisters and most of my brothers-in-law are happy in love. Not sure if brother Jon is in love right now, but he's young and doesn't need to be :) Plus, he and Jake are getting hired left and right to create gig posters for shows in NYC, so thanks to all those bands for recognizing talent when they see it. 
• I'm thankful I have a pretty good job. It has it's ups and downs, but it's a good job and I'm lucky to have it. 
• Speaking of my pretty good job, I'm happy I have a generous holiday schedule and vacation policy, because these last few days off have been NICE. And it's only Saturday :) 
• I'm thankful for Jason, for so many reasons, it would be impossible to distill them into a simple bullet point. 

Of all the things Molly could be thankful for...

Not Mommy. Not Daddy. Duckies. 

Smile for the camera

Molly is getting good at this. 2012 school pics:

My favorite :)

Enjoy them while they last

Sigh. All good things must come to an end and so must my Fridays at home :(

As much as I love spending every other Friday at home with Molly, it's just not really working out with my new team at work. Every Friday that I have off, it is a struggle to find someone to cover my work. Well, I take that back. Someone always says they can do it, but I hate having to constantly ask favors of people. And then there always seems to be an important call that I have to take or an urgent email that I have to respond to...I end up doing at least a couple of hours work every Friday that I'm home. So I might as well get paid!

We have to pay for the full week at daycare anyway, whether Molly goes to school on Friday or not. And she loves her school so much, it's not like it will be hard for her to go for the full week. Some evenings when Jason gets to daycare to pick her up, she doesn't even want to leave, she's having so much fun.

I know these days are precious, but I'm feeling a little more secure now in my status as a working mom. When I first went back to work, I felt so guilty for leaving Molly behind. It didn't help that I kept getting comments from people (mostly men) along the lines of, "I don't know how you can do it...MY wife just couldn't stand being away from the kids..." yadda yadda yadda. It felt good to be able to say, "Well, I DO have a part time schedule."

Working mom...stay-at-home mom...I honestly don't think it matters. Molly is thriving. I get tons of quality time with her on weekends, in the mornings, in the evenings, holidays, vacation days, etc. I also get plenty of non-quality time where she's whining, being difficult, and refusing to eat her food. Regardless, she loves me. I know this. Two Fridays a month are not going to change it!

Congratulations to Archie and B!

Oh what a happy, fun, wonderful weekend! B and Archie were married on Saturday, and of course I forgot to take a single picture. Luckily, Susie was there to document it all. Of the 118 photos she took, here are my favorites:

B's last night out as a single lady - dinner with her bridesmaids at Untitled restaurant in Chicago (yum!)

B, Aunt Suzie, and Mom (looking stylish) at the rehearsal dinner

Good pic of Mom and Dad

The happy couple! One day to go :)

The beautiful bride

Me with B (in her flannel shirt and veil) on our way to the church

The happy couple! Officially married :)

The Greek family members like to throw $$ on the dance floor

Luckily someone from the hotel was there to sweep it all up

Sus, Aunt Suzie, and me

T and B - so pretty

Next up...Sean and Susie! Can't wait for July!

Although Molls does not appear in any of the pics, she was indeed at the wedding, running around like a wild woman with her second cousin, Ella. Poor kid was exhausted on Sunday, but I think she's back to normal now. I, however, am still recovering from the festivities. But I hope to get back to regular posting soon!

All we need is just a little patience

I really wasn't expecting potty training to be this much work! The score? After 2.5 days, Molly has 13 stickers in the first column and 3 stickers in the second. There have also been 8 accidents and countless false alarms. All in all, though, Molly's got the lead and is doing pretty well.

I have her portable potty seat set up in the family room and we've been rotating TV shows and DVDs all weekend to keep her happy while waiting on the potty. And let me tell you, there's been a lot of waiting! I wouldn't normally let her watch this much TV, but it's all for a good cause. Her new favorite is Thomas the Tank Engine, so as extra incentive, we went out and bought some Thomas skivvies (for boys, but she doesn't know the difference).

Most of the accidents have happened while we've been in the front room, skipping or playing with markers. As Jason put it, she's spent 2 years just going whenever she needs to go, so it's no wonder we've had to clean up a few puddles.

She's only had one accident today though, and it happened when she was standing next to the potty, so I feel like that's progress. Today has been less about me sticking her on the potty every 30 min to an hour and more about her doing what she wants and then telling me when she needs to go. We even braved a little excursion outside so Molly could ride her tricycle up and down the sidewalk. I felt like she was a ticking time bomb, but she told me when she had to go and we managed to make it back in time. Success!

Hopefully she can keep up the momentum for the rest of the weekend...and through the next week at daycare. I'm not totally sure she's ready to go diaper free at school, but don't want to lose out on the progress she's made. I guess we've just got to give her a chance and see what happens. Go Molly!

Wish us luck

It's time. Potty time. We're pretty sure Molly's ready. We just haven't really had a free weekend to officially devote to potty training. But this weekend, Jason is going to Nashville and Molly and I have absolutely nothing going on, so why not? I've armed myself with Hello Kitty skivvies, a bucket full of Halloween candy, and a potty poster. Let's do this!

We already have a head start - one sticker in each column. Go Molly!