Lake day

We took the kids to the lake for the first time this weekend. 

Well, they think it was the first time they've been there, but it actually was not 😏

The last time we were at Folsom Lake Lucy was just shy of 2, and Jackson was a baby! Back then wrangling a toddler, a baby and the kitchen sink worth of things required for an hour at the lake was a total pain in the butt, so this visit was much more manageable.

If you notice in the photos that both kids are fully-clothed, there's a reason for that ha!

Being the prepared mom that I am, I checked the weather forecast before we left and noticed that it was only supposed to be in the late 70's, which IMO is too friggin' cold for swimming.

We packed a quick picnic lunch, I hugged the dogs (I felt guilty that we were not taking them with us, dogs love the lake!) and went on our merry no-swimsuit way.

Of course, when we got to the lake, it felt super warm outside and I regretted immediately not bringing the kids suits.

But despite swim suits, both kids had a blast. Compared to the last time we were at the lake when there was basically no water, all of the rain our area had this winter brought the lake levels up very high, which meant to long hike to get to the water.

The lake was clear, a bit chilly, and had lots of driftwood for the kids to float around the shore, like little boats and surfboards. 

Lucy is an avid rock collector, and she had fun checking out the different colors and shapes of stones on the lake floor.

It's crazy, we've lived ten minutes away from Folsom Lake for almost three years and barely visit, but for the $12 entry fee and a few sandwiches made at home, it made for a cheap family day.

We can't wait to visit again!

Potty hard or go home

Alternate titles were also: I like to potty all the time; It's a potty party up in here.
I finally have two kids out of diapers (sort of) and I still really can't believe it! I thought we would never get Jackson potty trained, even though we started in March and two months felt like for friggin' ever.
I say sort of because he still wears a diaper/pull-up for nap time and also has not figured out the whole number two on the pot thing. (For example, he decided the playground on Mother's Day would be a good time to poop. I found him standing very still on the play structure, leaning up against a wall, which is his code for I'm s*&tting my pants.)
Like a lot of things in life, I've realized that you can't get your kid potty trained by half-assing it. You've got to go big or go home.
Believe me, there was attempted half-assery on my part. The thought of being stranded at home with a child in undies until he got it figured out sounded terrible, so we first tried training pants (a.k.a. pull-ups) and quickly went down in flames.
I'd read blog post after blog post saying that training pants don't work and you really have to just suck it up and either let them pee in their pants or run around naked for a few days, but let's face it, I really didn't want to deal with the mess and was convinced it would be different for us.
Oh, how I was wrong.
Since training pants are essentially glorified diapers, he treated them like diapers and did his biz in them like it was business as usual, and I started to panic a bit.
I should back up a bit and say that we sort of have a deadline to get our little hambino potty trained because he's signed up for preschool in the fall and they have a requirement that all students be potty trained.
The panic was setting in because I was convinced that he just was not ready to use the potty and would have to wait a whole year to start school.
That's when we decided to go with a little tough love, and it worked like a charm!
During the pull-up debacle, we put together a little jar of trinkets that Jackson could choose from each time he went on the potty. That worked for awhile until we decided to ban pull-ups while we were home and go strictly with underwear.
He was not happy with that and for the first week he pitched a serious fit every morning when I would put underwear on him.
Once we got the said undies on him, he wouldn't tell us when he needed to go, he would just wet his pants, and when we tried to get him to sit on the potty he would freak out.
So I resorted to bribery with one of his favorite things: flavored sparkling water.
Yes, I got my kid to go potty by bribing him with sparkling water.
After doing that for a few days he finally started telling us when it was potty time and for the most part, the rest was history.
We started buckling down on the potty training thing about three weeks ago, and I could not be prouder of him for reaching this milestone.

#momlife

The majority of the posts on this blog are centered around my kids, so I thought I'd do something a little different this time and make this post about me.
As moms so many times we make our lives about our kids and families and often forget that we were individuals with interests and whole lives before these little people arrived.  During my last Weight Watchers meeting the topic of me time came up and what that looks like, and there are a few things I love doing when I get the time.
Speaking of Weight Watchers. Going to meetings is a big part of my self-care routine and one of my favorite parts of the week. I love hearing what other members have to say and getting ideas for meals and snacks. 
Weight Watchers has been kind of a struggle for me over the past...I don't want to say how long. I signed up two years ago in July and still have not made goal, it's quite the process.
If you don't know how Weight Watchers works, basically each food is given a points value, and members are given a certain number of points to eat each day, plus some extra points to spread over the course of the week. Or you could be like me and blow through all of your weekly points over the weekend.
Since I'm so fun size, I only get 30 points per day and 28 weekly points, and it takes a lot of creativity and the hungries to stay within those points. I've been riding the struggle bus for some time because I usually end up eating food after all of my points are gone and not tracking it. So if anyone has the magic bullet for training your brain to stay within your points, please let me know.  I know a lot of people who would love to know.
I do love Weight Watchers though, because I feel like it's teaching me how to eat cleanly and I've had a recent shift in mindset and seem to be doing better. Baby steps.
When I'm not Weight Watchin', I've been really into reading books again. My latest picks have been mysteries, specifically cozy mysteries and chick-lit type mysteries. Authors I've been digging lately are Diane Mott Davidson, Joanne Fluke and Lisa Scottoline. I still love YA and chick lit, and I will do a later post about some of my favorite authors.
I still watch Gilmore Girls almost every day. I know it got a lot of mixed reviews, but I LOVED the reboot, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. It was amazing to "visit" Stars Hollow again and see what my favorite characters were up to. I'll DEFINITELY write about my thoughts on that in a later post. P.S. I think Logan is the dad and I don't like what they did to Rory at all!
Perfectly Posh is still my side hustle, although I haven't been quite as active with it as in the past. I love the products and how they make my skin feel and look. If you haven't tried Posh, let me know in the commetns and I'd love to hook you up with some samples!
Thank you so much for reading, and until next time!