How to Potty Train in one week (or less!)

1.  When picking out the baby you want, be sure to get a strong-willed and competitive one. 

2.  Deal with your strong-willed child's need for independence for two years.  Try not to pull your hair out with the "Own" and "Self" statements (as in, "I'll do it on by myself, and I do NOT want any help from you.")

3.  Use your child's older sibling as an example, which may or may not turn into a competition for the potty each and every time one decides to sit on it.  This will test your patience to the limits, but hang tough.

4.  Pick a day, and go for it!

In other words, training Haley has been a breeze, totally opposite from Shelby.  I didn't have to offer any bribes and didn't have to spend days at home with a naked kid.  Maybe picking out that strong-willed child wasn't such a bad decision after all!

Christmas in New Mexico

For the holidays this year, we braved the Irving-to-Los Lunas drive to Bryon's parents' house.  Just hand over my "Mother of the Year Award" for riding in the car a total of TWENTY-FIVE freakin' hours.  I think we had to pull over at least 25 times for potty breaks.  Good thing we keep a $1.99 IKEA potty in the back seat! 

Nothing but the best for our kids!

Unfortunately, a stomach virus joined us on the trip.  Shelby puked in Bryon's favorite Mavericks cap.  Haley learned to puke in the potty like a big girl.  Janice didn't come out of her bedroom for over 24 hours.  Monica actually lost weight instead of gaining 5 pounds.  Fun times! 

The girls did have a great time with their cousins. 

Ashlee, Shelby, Isa, and Haley before the puking began

 We got lots of great gifts, but the winner was the legos for Shelby.  Something tells me she got her dad's engineering genes.

Look what I made!

I was most excited about giving Janice a quilt her mother had started before she passed away.  I pieced the back to look like a garden, which reminded me of her, and my cousin Meredith finished piecing the front that she had started.  Meredith also did the binding and quilting, since I was WAY short on time. I just loved how it turned out!

Back by Monica

Front by Helen and Meredith

Other highlights included lunch with Bryon's nanny from when he was little and also a wild adventure to the mall to let the kids ride the carousel.

Aaron, Leao, and Bryon

Haley, Mom, and Candy Cane, the horse

Santa's Visit

You know how some Christmas celebrations stick in your memory, while others have faded?  I'm hoping today's Christmas will stick in my kids' minds forever!

Since mid-November, the girls have been asking Santa for a "fluff", a shovel, and some dirt.  When Haley first said dirt, I thought she was kidding and would be asking for a pony in no time.  Lucky for Santa, she stuck to her guns!

"Fluff"

And, what about that "fluff"?  Shelby first saw it at Walgreens and fell in love.  Again, I thought she would fall in love with the next sparkly thing she saw, and then the thing after that, and then the thing after that.  Wrong!  She stuck to her guns too and kept asking for that fluff.  Santa couldn't be more thrilled at the $4.99 price tag.  Proof that Santa made his annual visit to the Pfaff house:

Dirt and a shovel for Haley, sand castle by Bryon one of Santa's elves

I was still half asleep while taking pics this am...

Following in every kids' habits, the girls had just as much fun with the boxes as the toys. 

The kids' "boat"

You Get What You Get, and You Don't Throw a Fit!

Sorry, co-workers, for the crappy gifts you are about to receive.  Just know they are from the heart, even if they are ultra-ugly!  

Our employer recently adopted a new policy that mandated no one could bring a non-clear purse, cup, lunch box, uniform, etc. into the pharmacy.  I get why they did this.  After all, we do work around narcotics...but, it's really hard for 6 women to no longer carry a purse.  We've been doing it for a collective 125 years between us.  We need our belongings within eyesight, or we just feel lost.  

With this in mind, I decided to sew lovely clear "purses" for everyone for Christmas.  Take a gander:

U.G.L.Y!  But, functional.  

My favorite.  Matches the fabric-covered calender I made.

I thought the ric-rac would make it cute.  I was wrong.

Really odd size and shape.  Sorry gals!

Note to self, NEVER try French seams on heavy vinyl.  

 You think Coach is going to be calling soon to make me head designer of the clear-purse division?  Yep, I have my doubts too...