My daughter the control freak

It takes AT LEAST 4 spoons to feed Marian. One for each of her hands, one for her to steal from you, and one for you to pull out of your back pocket to finish the meal.

Almost like Michelangelo's "David"..almost

The contrappasto curve of the torso, (yeah, I was an art history junkie in college) the distant expression on the face, the representation of youthful strength...really I think this could pass as the toddler version of the David...with of course the addition of the mismatched socks, and the "Cars" underwear. I'm happy to report that we are 7 days and counting potty accident free! In my new book "How to potty train your child in one day or less" I share my secret of ignoring your child's requests to go to bathroom while at the grocery store untill they wet their pants. After that they'll apparently never have an accident again.

Survivor

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it means a lot to me because my mom is a Breast Cancer Survivor. She is now in remission but I still am in awe of her courage and faith during those difficult months. She had gone in for a mammogram just before helping Chad and I move to Boston with then, 5 week old Jack. While she was slaving away helping me unpack boxes, organize our tiny apartment, learn the ropes of motherhood, and figuring out how to get around in Boston, my dad called my mom to let her know that she'd received a letter or a call...or something from her doctor letting her know that they might have found something in her mammogram. She never said a word to me. It wasn't until a few weeks after she'd gone back home that she called to tell me she had breast cancer. Except for a few weeks for Christmas I was in Boston during most of mom's treatments. When I arrived home for Christmas that year the strong, hard working, copper haired mother that had helped me so much in Boston greeted me, looking so frail but with a beautiful smile and baseball cap on her head. While I was there I had the chance to go with her for one of her chemo treatments and I was in awe of the way she talked about all the other patients who were also having chemo. She knew their stories and she cared about them and offered them words of encouragement, never complaining about her own situation. When we walked in she mentioned to me that the nurse she really liked (the one who could always get the needle in the first time) wasn't there that day and that meant that she'd probably have to get poked a few times. Her hand was already unbelievably bruised from all the treatments she'd received and I watched as she quietly winced as the nurse took a few tries to finally get the needle in the weak veins. I don't know if I could have done what my mom did. At least not with the amount of courage and grace with which she did it. All the needles, terrible pain, numbness, uncertainty. I am amazed and proud. Enough of the sad stuff! Three years later my mom is at full strength, making beautiful quilts, tending a garden that is the envy of all neighbors, enduring a 12 year old beginner Saxophone player, and adoring and taking care of 5.5 beautiful grandchildren who adore her! She is a survivor! To hear her letter about cancer being read on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" (they got her name backwards but it's her) Click Here (After the short commercial/ad, her letter starts at 1:33) You can also click HERE to have $9 donated to Breast Cancer research. All you have to do is post a comment on Cass's blog.

Mom: Before



DURING


And After: ...Beautiful

When we're helping we're happy!

And they're off!

Jack is thrilled to have a live in racing partner for the hallway/racetrack.

Clean up Aisle 6: Notes from a rookie potty trainer

Nudity has become commonplace in the Pugh household the past two weeks. After changing 1,000 too many diapers I decided it was time to enter the world of potty training...and what a world it is! Chad and I decided that the best way to train Jack was to just let the kid run free and naked and then take it from there (hence the naked bum in the picture...Note to future guests, don't worry we've cleaned the chairs!) So the first few days went great. Jack was totally on-board and his rewards of fruit snacks and calls to his favorite characters (Thomas the Tank Engine and Lightening McQueen) seemed to do the trick. I thought to myself, this potty training isn't as bad as I thought it would be. After 3 days I thought it was a done deal and figured we were done. Big Mistake #1 Never get cocky. Before going to the grocery store this week I tried to get Jack to take care of business before we left but he said he didn't need to go. Big Mistake #2 don't leave the house if you know they need to go...even if they say they don't. So of course Jack had to go the minute we got there. After 10 minutes of hanging out in the grocery store bathroom (so gross) Jack decided he didn't really need to go so we went back to shopping. Big Mistake #3: If a child says they need to go potty...and try for 10 minutes then say they don't need to go...don't believe them! Three aisles later Jack starts dancing around so I ask him if he needed to go potty, he said no...with a little too much intensity. I wanted to finish shopping and the idea of hanging out in the grocery bathroom again trying to prop Jack up on the big toilet with one hand while keeping Marian from touching anything with the other sounded terrible so I believed him. Big Mistake #4: When a child starts doing the potty dance and says they don't need to go...don't believe them. One aisle later Jack yells out, "Mom I 'm going potty" In sheer desparation I grabbed him and ran for the bathroom then realized I'd forgotten Marian in the cart and dashed back to grab her when it happend, right next to the cake mixes and spices of aisle 6. "Clean up aisle 6" So, we left our half filled grocery cart, told the ladies at the customer service desk what happened (although they new what had happened before I even opened my mouth) and went straight to the car. While making our way through the parking lot, Jack, who could sense that something pretty bad had happend and figured that it would be in his best interest to cheer me up said, "don't worry mommy, it's okay, those girls will clean it up." On the drive home I tried very hard to stay positive for Jack's sake. I tried to stay positive while I peeled off his very wet pants and underwear. I tried to stay positive while I started the 10th potty training accident induced load of laundry in 3 days. And I tried to stay positive while I gave him his second "potty-accident bath" that day. I'm not sure I did the positive thing very well because Jack looked me in the eye and said, "Mommy, are you happy at me?" Now how can you be mad after a sweet question like that? It reminded me of President Monson's quote from general conference where he said something along the lines of, "never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person needing to be loved." I told Jack that even though I was unhappy that he'd wet his pants ...again, I was happy with him because he was trying and I was proud of him and knew he could do it. After that Jack gave me the biggest hug he has ever given me. I'm happy to report that we've had three accident free days since the grocery store incident! Way to go Jack!