The Fair is Fun!

I know there are a lot of NC State Fair haters out there, but I am not one of them.  I love the Fair.  The Fair is fun, ya'll (I don't actually say ya'll ... ever.. but this sentence needs a ya'll).  I had to seriously convince the Editor to go to the Fair our first year together.  He finds it somewhat entertaining now (the people watching alone!).  I've been going since I moved to the area and have only skipped it once or twice in the past 14 years.

Last year, we quickly used up a book of 18 tickets on 3-4 rides so this year I bought two books in advance for the price of one.  I pretty much never tell Noah our after-nap plans before he actually takes a nap so the Fair was  a surprise.  We decided to wake Noah up from his nap right before 2pm.  One of the things I love most about Noah is he is ready for anything.  Even though we went to the Fair last year, I'm sure he doesn't remember.  But when I woke him from a dead sleep and said, "Do you want to go to the Fair?" He said, "Yes" without even knowing what I was talking about.  We explained there would be animals and rides and he was all in.  I was a little worried and even packed a pull-up!!  {I doubted him I know I shouldn't but he had 3, count them, 3 accidents the day before.  He had only had 4 accidents TOTAL in the 13 days since we started potty training; so more than one accident in a day was crazy to me.}  Anyways, he did not have an accident yesterday and I'm so proud of him.

So Noah is not yet 36" tall so he couldn't ride any rides alone.  One of us rode with him on everything, but we only gave the ride attendants tickets for one person (except for the Ferris Wheel in which we all had to 'pay').

 

As soon as we walked in, Noah wanted to see the animals.  So we headed to the E-Coli Barn and looked at all the barn animals.  I swear, every year they get farther and farther away from the public with more fences and cages.  I guess to prevent E-Coli!  Next Noah saw the ponies and had to ride.  Shortest $5 ride ever, but Noah loves riding the horses.

Next we headed to the Jollopy Cars.  These were a huge hit last year (Noah rode it twice last year).  And he really enjoyed it again this year.

 

Gotta love a self-portrait on a Fair ride.  Noah and I rode this Bumble Bee ride.  He wanted to ride some Elephants that flew (WDW rip-off??) but he was too short to ride it alone & I was too tall to ride it with him.  So Bees instead.

We got a bit ripped off on this ATV Jungle ride.  It was 4 tickets because it took your picture (which was not free).  I don't even know the point of this ride, but whatever.

We gave Noah a few choices as we went to some bigger rides, the slide, some motorcycles, but he chose these Bumpy Monster Trucks.  The Editor barely fit inside and the ride had a 160lb weight limit per rider.  If you know anything about the Fair, you know that only the children weigh under 160lbs - few of the parents.  After seeing some get on the ride, we figured the Editor at 180lbs was not going to be the one flattening the tires on this ride.  Noah loved it and was laughing and giggling so hard at the bumps.

 

We had walked past this creepy Circus Train earlier and Noah had to ride it.  It was all he wanted to talk about it.  So we rode it even though it was slow and boring. But he seemed to enjoy it anyways.

We ate some dinner; which at the Fair means anything thing on a stick goes!  And then headed for the Carousel and Ferris Wheel.  There are two Carousels and we were near the one Noah was too short to ride; which was lucky for us because we only had enough tickets left for the Ferris Wheel. 

The line was pretty short for the Ferris Wheel (only had to wait one rotation) and we were lucky enough to see a real train go by across the street from the Fair Grounds.

 

Last but not least, you have to get something Deep Fried at the Fair- candy bar, Twinkie, cheese, pickles, ice cream.  This year we opted for Deep Fried Girl Scout Cookies- Samona's! They were yummy and must better than the Snickers bar.  The Snickers just turned to goo, but the Samona's kept their form.  A big hit!  

Of course, when we got back to the car and had Noah tell his Lovey, Burpie (who was waiting for him) all about the Fair he yelled (hopped up on sugar) "Ride the Carousel? NO!!!!"  Guess he is really hung up on that even though he rode a ton of other stuff.  I see a Pullen Park trip in our future to get the carousel out of his system.

Adventures in Potty Sitting- Day 3

After lunchtime today I seriously wanted to dance a little jig.  I gave Noah juice with breakfast today because we were going to Barnes & Noble story time as our morning outing around 10am.  He is usually going about an hour after he drinks so I knew I had to juice him up early.  He initiated two pees before it was time to go and then I had him sit down right before we left and he went again!  We hit up B&N and the Apple Store.

Mommy side bar:  I finally got my iPhone screen replaced after THIS happened to it and now I need a new case.  I was going back and forth between the Otterbox Commuter I had (in purple & white) and a Speck Candy Shell.  I have a white iPhone and want the case to match.  Even though I got mixed reviews on the Speck, I am just ready for something different.  I had the Commuter for a year and there were just no other colors I was dying for.  So I ordered the Speck in White & Aubergine.  My only hesitation is that the apple on the back of the phone doesn't show, like it does on the Otterbox.  We'll see how I like it.

Okay, back to our adventures.  Noah stayed dry our whole outing!  We were gone around 70 minutes again.  I made him sit as soon as we got home and he went.  As we went through our lunch routine I made a few comments about how poop goes in they potty and he shouldn't poop in his pull up at nap time.  After lunch he initiated poop on the potty! I was thrilled, beyond thrilled.  It wasn't a lot, but he was so proud of himself and I was too.  And he napped! Double score!!

After lunch was pretty challenging.  Grandpa arrived so he was on hand along with the Editor.  Well, Noah loves his 'bumpa' and pretty much acts like he's on crack whenever they are together.  Plus I juiced him up after nap (mommy mistake).  We met a friend at the park where Noah ate dirt, threw rocks, ran away from me (the list goes on). But he didn't pee; from nap time (wake up around 2:40pm) until after dinner at 5:40pm.  He finally initiated, which I knew he wanted to do but it's hard to just leave it be.  I mean he downed juice, a whole bottle of water at the playground, and a cup of milk at dinner.  I feel like it was a battle of wills.  Every time I asked him if he had to go he was going to add on 15 minutes until he went, which was about the time I asked him if he had to go again.  Not to mention, now we have me, the Editor, and Grandpa all staring at him.  It's the Noah Show and the performances are spotty at best.  He did have to go again before bath time and he initiated!

About this time I got a little cocky.  I even told someone we didn't have an accident at all today (we had 10 minutes until bath time).  Well, 3 minutes later (6:23pm), Noah gave me a look.  I asked him from across the room if he needed to go.  He said no.  Two minutes later, it looked as if he's pooping.  And he came running from the corner saying "Don't get cars dirty,"  I met him in front of the potty pulled down his Cars undies quickly and a poop fell onto the carpet (we missed the towel).  He did finish on the potty though.  I felt so bad for him.  He knew and was just a little too late.  I made a joke with him about mommy putting poop on the carpet and how it should go in the potty.

He did swindle me into two trips to the potty during bedtime stories tonight.  I think we are going to institute a rule about this soon.

All in all, it was a good day.  Most of the challenges have been behavioral not really having anything to do with the potty.  Though even when he initiates, he'll cry about having to sit down.  But he does go.  I think he just doesn't want to stop doing what he's doing.  I need to ask him a little less frequently about going to give him some control of telling me he has to go.  He hasn't  gone outside of the house, but he will sit on the car potty willingly.  I still need to buy the potty seat for my handbag (ICK!).  I feel a lot less terrified, though I haven't been peed on in public yet.  And I know that just because the 3 days are up we aren't potty trained, (we haven't even started on nap & bedtime) but I feel good about Noah's progress and taking him out in undies.

I'm really proud of him and can't believe I was so scared!  Though I am totally exhausted!

Day 1 Progress Report HERE
Day 2 Progress Report HERE

Day 3 Progress Report:

Pairs of Underwear:  2 (this morning he dropped threw frozen blueberries everywhere and his original undies got dirty; he went straight to bath after the poop accident so no need for a new pair then)

Accidents:  1 (5 minutes before bath time)

Fruit snacks: almost the whole bag (I had 2 and then I opened up a new bag and ate them all too)

Stickers: 8 good ones, 4 small stars

Mommy Stress Level (10 being highest):  7.5 (a lot to do with a house guest and behavior not necessarily the potty)

This will conclude the four part series of Adventures in Potty Sitting, but look for periodic updates.  I'm sure there will be some fun stories to tell.  Tomorrow Grandpa is babysitting while the Editor and I go to the UNC vs. VT football game.  Hopefully all of this won't be undone in 6 hours.

Adventures in Potty Sitting: Day 2

Day 2 was not all butterflies and rainbows.  I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and Noah did as well.  He was just really cranky this morning.  Crying and throwing things and time outs. I'm not sure if he's tired of being stuck in the house with me, if he needs to poop and just waiting for nap time, if his teeth are bothering him (he asked for medicine and I gave him some Oral Gel), if he's tired since he's missed so many naps, or if he misses Daddy.  The Editor wasn't home this morning when he woke up and has been busy with a work project.  But none of this is really potty training related.  Just probably normal two year old behavior.  But both of our fuses were short.

I juiced Noah up at 9am again and he initiated the potty three times this morning.  Remember how I said on Day 1 that Noah doesn't know the Annie Fruit Snacks are for using the potty? Well, he totally does.  After his first potty at 9:45am we did our routine and he ran right over to where I kept the snacks and said, "Baby needs one." 

Kitty got in on the action today

There was one accident this morning at 12:15pm, while sitting in the highchair.  Fun times!  He says, "pee potty" so quietly I feel like I might have missed it.  But he let it all out and I didn't realize until I heard it hitting the floor.  Good thing I mop the floors on Thursdays!  He looked a little less dejected today than yesterday.  I tried to rush him to the potty to finish but he was done. And he asked for a sticker and I didn't give him one.  Am I a mean mommy? Then he had to finish lunch naked, sitting on a towel on the kitchen floor (not as punishment just because his highchair was soaked!).  And he didn't fall asleep until 1:45pm!  But at least he fell asleep; 3rd nap in 7 days!

Noah woke up from his nap wet and dirty.  He keeps referring to his underwear as pull ups so I think he might be a little confused.  But, he refused to take off his undies at nap time, so I put them on over his pull up.  I think that is a good sign.  Our one hour outing was going to be the car wash.  But then I was thinking I need to get the handbag potty seat (ICK!).  Remember how I said I loath Babies R Us and don't shop there?  Well here's the thing.  It's 5 minutes from my house and Buy Buy Baby is 15.  So... um... yeah... having a kid makes you contradict and compromise your morals and values sometimes (but I haven't gone back to Chick Fila and I even have a free sandwich coupon so there!).  So I went to Babies R Us for band aids (I cut myself 3 times today) and a potty seat.  Well they didn't have the one a friend recommended (or any that fold up), so I bought some of those disposable things that go over the toilet until I can get to Buy Buy Baby.  What a mistake, they are basically just to keep your butt off the toilet and away from germs.  I am not a germaphobe and I'm not scared of the toilet seat so waste.of.money!  Positive of the trip: Noah asked to used the potty seat I have in the car.  He sat on it but didn't go.  But hey it's a step!

We also went to the car wash and were there FOREVER.  We were gone about 70-75 minutes but Thomas stayed dry the whole time! In fact, he didn't pee until 5:35pm!  The Editor and me initiated all the afternoon potty times and Noah pretty much cried when we forced sat him down.  But he went!

So another pretty successful day!  Though I'm drained.  All the crying this morning and time outs!  Seriously he was in time out more than he peed.  And we still need to poop in the potty.  I really just want some wine, but the only bottle I have was opened 8 days ago.  It's only a little sour and you can't even tell once you hit the second glass.
Day 1 Progress Report HERE

Day 2 Progress Report:

Pairs of Underwear:  2

Accidents:  1

Fruit snacks: 3 (I ate the rest, after Noah went to bed, except for the two after lunch) 

Stickers: 4 good ones, 1 small star

Mommy Stress Level (10 being highest):  7 but mostly due to the crankiness and not the potty honestly
Tomorrow we have a morning activity planned so we'll see how that goes.  And I read all about how there shouldn't be any family or friend visits during this critical/sensitive period.  Well Grandpa (the Editor's dad) flies in tomorrow for a long weekend! Dum DaDum Da!

Adventures in Potty Sitting- Day 1

Dum DaDum Da!  Potty Training Day 1. FYI, I was/am/are terrified and pretty much only started this because Noah showed a lot of signs he was ready.  Here is my Getting Started Post.  I decided I'm going to be positive and happy and excited even though inside I.Am.Terrified.  

The night before, when putting Noah to bed I let him know that he was going to wear big boy underwear in the morning and we were going to throw away his diapers!  Then I got to setting myself up for hopefully a successful day.  I put the Baby Bjorn Potty in the middle of the living room on a towel, looking like the throne that it is (hilarious right?) with the potty books nearby.  I took my $15 worth of stickers and put all the good ones in a sticker bag for successful potty attempts.  I put the plain ones within easy reach for potty attempts with no action.  Two pairs of underwear in my handbag; two pairs in the car along with a cup.  (Girls have a lot of advantages, but the ability to pee in a cup is going to trump many of them & Noah is working on mastering this skill in the bath tub pretty often).  I still need to open up my car potty and figure out how to use it and I still need to get a (and again I'm grossed out by this) foldable potty seat for my ... handbag (ICK!). But I figure that we aren't leaving the house the first day so I have a few days to figure this out.

Here we go!  When we woke up I pumped Noah up with our plan again.  Right out of the crib we were trashing the diapers.  Noah helped me put them in a trashbag and he talked about how the garbage man was coming to pick them up outside.  I'm not really trashing them. First of all, these things are like gold as far as value.  Secondly, I need a back up plan!  We replaced the diapers with Pull Ups.  I read a lot about doing night and nap training all at the same time.  But honestly, I'm not ready.  This kid pees through a nighttime diaper once a week as it is.  Maybe this is a mistake, but it isn't my first parenting mistake and it won't be my last.  I told Noah that pull ups are for nap and bed time only and that it's time to pick out his big boy underwear.  He picked out Thomas (shocker!)  And we went downstairs.

I read about juicing the kid up and we are kinda anti-juice.  No real reason other than why drink juice when you can drink water?  The Editor and I only drink water, coffee/green tea, and alcohol.    But when Noah hadn't peed once at 9am I was ready for juice. So 1/2 of a juice box with about 5-6oz water.  He finished it by 9:03am.  At 10am he peed on the potty after I initiated asking him.  He also got the rest of the juice box mixed with another 4oz of water.  He finished the 2nd cup  by 10:04am.  

Juicing up

10:15am- our first accident (he already did one successful potty time).   He started going and I heard it.  So he stopped and I ran him to the potty and he finished there.  Lots of, "It's okay!"  I took off the undies and said, "We have to keep Thomas dry, we don't want him wet."  Noah looked pretty down on himself.  But I kept it cheerful.  I said that Thomas was wet so we can't wear him and let him be naked for a few minutes.  After about 5 minutes he told me he was ready to wear Thomas again, so we picked out a new pair.  The next time he had to pee, he initiated and said as he sat down, "Keep Thomas dry."  I was so happy he got it!

I kept a log of when he went.  Very reminiscent of the feeding chart that went on for about 2 months and the napping chart that I had for about 2-3 weeks in month 4.  Basically a white piece of notebook paper with my scribbling on it.  Time he peed with who initiated it (me or him).

We had a little routine.  He initiated almost all the other potty times by saying, "Pee Potty" and we would run over.  I tried to get him to pull the underwear down, but this kid can't put on or take off his Crocs, sometimes his socks so it's not happening yet.  After he peed he got to pick out a fun sticker from the bag, whatever he wanted.  Then we flushed and I let him go on about his day.  I cleaned out the potty, wrote down the time, and then appeared with one fruit snack.  I just said, "Here you go" and moved on.  I read (but didn't read why) to just give the snack, not to announce it as a reward.  If he sat on the potty and didn't actually go, I gave him a small plain star sticker.  

By lunchtime, Noah had peed 6 times and only had the one accident!  I tried not to get too cocky but this was going better than I anticipated. I mean, I read about a family that went through 46 pairs of underwear on the first day!  Let's just say at lunch time I exhaled and felt a little more at ease.

Nap time didn't happen... again.  Noah pooped in his pull up.  So the other thing I read a lot was to only sit on the potty for 3-5 minutes.  I'm down with this for peeing.  In fact, if Noah doesn't have to go he gets up quickly, if he has to go he goes quickly.  But pooping.  It can take him 20 minutes on a good day to poop; it can take over an hour on a bad day.  Seriously, it's painful to watch.

So out of the crib back to big boy underwear and downstairs we went. I decided on no juice in the afternoon because Noah is usually really wet at his 4:30pm diaper change.  Since we were homeward bound, we did some art project stuff.  Talk about stressful.  This is worse to me than potty training.  In 5 minutes we had to change underwear twice because Noah split the water for his water color paint all over himself.  Then somehow we got green Play-Doh ground into the carpet.  All the while, I'm asking Noah every 15 minutes if he has to pee on the potty.  Resounding Nos.  All afternoon!  I saw some dancing, I put him on twice while he cried and he didn't go.  I think he wanted to initiate.  At 4:40pm he finally did initiate and went.   

Crayons are fun

When I asked Noah in the bath tonight who my big boy was he responded quickly, "Daddy."  This kid is funnier than me (imagine!).  

In the past couple of weeks Noah has occasionally asked to use the potty during bedtime story time.  Usually around when I say, "Last book, then songs."  I think it's a stalling tactic.  He's never once used the potty at this time, but I always run him over and sit with him for a few minutes.  I feel a little stuck, because I want to offer him the potty if he's initiating asking for it but I don't want to be a sucker for a few more awake minutes, though they are spent in the bathroom...

Day 1 Progress Report:
Pairs of Underwear: 4 (but two were water craft accidents) So really only 2
Accidents: 1
Fruit snacks: 1 bag (I ate 4- they are so good! 4 pieces not bags)
Stickers: 8 good ones, 4 small stars
Mommy Stress Level (10 being highest):  1   Of course, we haven't left the house yet.

Tomorrow I think we are supposed to leave the house for an hour in the afternoon.  Dum DaDum Da...

Adventures in Potty Sitting- Getting Started

Apologies for the blog title; I watched 'The Sitter' over the weekend.

 

When Noah was 17months old we introduced the Baby Bjorn blue potty. He was becoming interested in me going to the bathroom. As in he would follow me in, ask me about it, try to take his shirt off (though I pee with my shirt on). I'd have him sit on it, even with his clothes on just to get used to it. Over the summer we've been doing a lot more actual potty time and Noah was peeing on the potty regularly before bath time. Father's Day was his first #2 on the potty; I basically caught him in the act and threw him on. But by August, he was pooping on the potty almost exclusively... until a trip away and we've been spotty ever since.

 

At first I really struggled with when was going to be the right time to go full force potty training. Diapers are easy for lazy moms; potty training is work, and planning ahead and terrifying. In mid-November we have an 11 hour flight with one stop. Do we potty train before or after? What is better? What should I do? But in the past weeks it's become really clear he's ready. He's dry a lot more often, he tells me when he's going, and will ask me to use the potty, even out of the house and will sometimes use the potty out of the house! Lots of funny little whispers in Target, "Mommy, I"m peeing."

 

I checked the weather calendar, along with Noah's, the Editor's, and my social calendar and decided on P Day or P Dayx3. I started asking a friend questions about the 3-day "Oh Crap Potty Training" she used. Then I googled Lora Jensen's 3 Day Potty Training and read a bootlegged version of her plan (Hello I'm not paying $24 for it). I read lots of mommy blogs about their experiences (the only one I actually follow is My Chihuahua Bites). And asked friends lots of questions about Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 and pulls ups and such.

 

 

 

Then we hit up Buy Buy Baby and Target (FYI I loath Babies R Us and only shop there if you are registered there and I have to buy you a gift) for some essentials:

- Clorox Green Works cleaning wipes (for the car)
- $15 worth of stickers (Yes, I said I wasn't buying a $24 educational potty training book, but I bought $15 worth of ... stickers).
- Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks (I figure they are better than M&M's)
- 28 pairs of underwear- Thomas, Cars, and Mickey Mouse (one blog I read said they went through 46 pairs of underwear on the first day!)
- Kalencom 2in1 Potette plus for the car

- 30 disposable portable potty liners

- Elmo & Friends Soft Potty Seat (I want Noah to get used different types of potties, now we have two which helps with a two story home).

 

The one thing I feel like I'm missing is a fold up into my handbag (ICK!) potty seat. Recommend a good one!

 

I admit we are kind of winging it, but I'm excited. I tried to pump Noah up too by letting him know he was going to start wearing his big boy underwear this week and we were throwing his diapers in the trash! (I'm not really throwing them away, I'm no fool).

 

Stay tuned for more on our Adventures in Potty Sitting.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

This week has been busy.  And as with most weeks, there was the good, the bad, and the even worse.  

Two goods this week though:   A few weeks ago I was working on a Shutterfly Photo Book for Noah's second year.  Literally from his first birthday to his second birthday.  I spent a lot of time on it; like close to 30 hours.  And I spent a lot of time whining about it; like probably 30 hours (Here & Here again).  I got an email saying it was going to arrive sometime between today (Saturday) and Thursday but it came yesterday! And it looks amazing.  It looks exactly like it did on the computer, the fonts, colors, photos, sizes.  I worried that after putting in so much time that I would be disappointed.  But I'm not.  I love it.  I'm glad I did it and stuck with it after I nearly quite 100 times.  Though I should probably start working on Noah's 3rd year now...

The other good:  I ran a 5K this morning.  I haven't run a race since The 4 on the 4th race on... the 4th of July.  I've been running regularly (September runs) and running with Noah in the stroller since it's nicer out during the day and darker out when he goes to bed.  But since the American Tobacco Trail is closed, I'm having to run a tougher course (my hilly 'hood) with a 28.1lb toddler and a 25lb stroller.  My runs have been over 10 minute miles crossing the 11 minute mile mark! So a few weeks ago I was supposed to run a 5k and I totally backed out when I found out it started at 8am. This morning, I woke up at 4am to a crazy thunder storm, open windows, and a barking dog.  But I've only run 4 races where it hasn't rained, today's race started at 9am, and it's literally 8 minutes from my house.  Systems were a go!  The temperature outside when we started was actually pretty good, mid 60s but it was pouring about 3 minutes before we started. It rained off and on during the race, but only poured again once.  The temperature did continue to rise so it was warmer by the end.  I didn't really look at the course map before the race (I don't look at restaurant menus either) and didn't realize the race starts and ends in a weird spot, at least a quarter mile away from where the Editor and Noah were waiting for me to finish.  So I knew I had to save some energy to actually walk to the car.  I had no idea what my time would be, considering my training times were so high.  But I was happy with my time; really happy actually.  I finished 27:50 which is a minute slower than my fastest 5K time ever (Eve Carson Nov. 2011 26:53).  This is the first time I haven't improved my time from my last race, but it's been 11months so that's okay with me!

The Bad:  I didn't finish my book club book.  Nightwoods by Charles Frazier.  I know this isn't a big deal to most people, but it was really embarrassing to me.  I always finish even if I hate the book. I had 'READ" on my to-do list every single day for a week.  And I was hosting!  My book clubbers were surprised too.  One even said, "I would have thought you finished this book in an hour because it only took me a day!"  Frazier's writing style is hard for me to speed read my way through.  I'm not sure if I'll finish it or not.  I know all the details, and I got it electronically from the library (it's already expired, I just haven't turned my wi-fi back on yet) so I'm thinking I'll just let it go... I'm almost ashamed; more embarrassed and really disappointed in myself.

The Ugly:  As I was getting into the car  to go to the 5K this morning, I dropped a Nutragrain bar from my handbag and then another thud. I dropped my iPhone; 391 days after I got it.  In it's Otterbox Commuter case that had a piece break off of it about a month ago.   So the screen shattered into the craziest spider web I've ever seen.  Noah quickly caught wind of what was happening and said, "Oh NO! Mommy's phone is broken.  Mommy fix it!"  I tend to be the fixer of things in our house.  He said it so tearfully it was both sad and cute.  I'm not sure why it was so upsetting to him.  So if anyone is selling their AT&T iPhone 4 as they upgrade to a 5- let me know!  I'll buy it from you.   That's my plan I guess.  The Editor talked to the AT&T people and they advised buy a used one or wait until April when I get a new one.  Maybe this will help me un-plug a bit but it's really annoying!

Tailgating Argyle Style- UNC football

This might be the most harried photo/post ever.  But when I read Melissa's post today over at I Pick Pretty I had to fit time in to link up to What to Wear: Tailgate Edition.  (By the way- love that the ACC is represented in your link up!)

This is the first time in 5 or 6 years that we did not get season tickets to the UNC football games.  We'll still be at a few games but it's a little sad not to be there 6 or 7 Saturdays this fall. It's also a nice to have some of the time back at home.  Our reasoning was that Noah is now 2, so we either pay $50 for 7 Saturdays for him to have a seat or pay off our babysitter's college loans while she watches him for 7 Saturdays.  We just decided to revisit the situation next year and take a year off.  But since I am usually spending 6 or 7 Saturdays in Kenan Stadium at THE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill I do have a tailgate wardrobe.  

In Kenan if you are alumni you dress up. If you are a fan you dress more casually.  Or that's how I see it anyways.  I'm an alumni; the Editor is ... well more than a fan but not an alum.  Let's face it, Argyle is the color of UNC, we are a preppy bunch of people!  If I could I pull off argyle head to toe... well let's just say I'd try it.

The temperature ranges from 100+ to colder (45-50?) and of course, it could be raining.  Here's a few looks I pulled on tonight that I do wear to football games depending on if it's a day game in September or a night game in October/November. 

 I tried to smile in these photos, but I did not steam my dresses/skirt so I look messy!  And I'd be wearing my Rainbows in the barefoot photos.

 

November 26, 2011.  UNC vs Duke

Wearing the black sweater dress and boots from above with a Carolina Blue scarf from India 

(my brother actually brought it back from India)

And Homecoming 2011.  I usually dress down a little bit for Homecoming.  Whenever jello-shots are involved it's better to have jeans on.  Plus it was rainy and cold!  So I'm wearing a Victoria's Secret UNC jersey from their campus collection.  UNC quickly pulled their logo from VS pretty much right after I got it from the Editor years ago.  My accessory- argyle logo cornhole boards hand painted for me by a friend a couple of years ago.  I have never seen boards better looking than these (tho I might be biased).

Dress, tank top, skirt, white sweater dress- all from Banana Republic
Black sweater dress- Target
Necklace- Anthropologie
Earrings- Bridier Baubles
Boots- I think they are Steve Madden but I can't remember and I'm too lazy too go upstairs and check.

My next game, and first game of the 2012 season, will be on October 6th against Virginia Tech.  It's a 12:30pm game and it's a White Out (all UNC fans are to wear white).  We'll see what the weather brings before I decide what white with Carolina Blue accent I decide on.