Breakthrough #2

For months we have been waiting. . .trying to get this. . .



It has been leaning up on top of the picture frame in the bathroom for months. Literally months. The Boy gets to hold it if he is trying to go #2. It has been torturous. We have had many conversations that go something like this. . .

The Boy: Can I watch a movie?

Mom: Sure, what movie?

The Boy: How about the Dinosaurs? [pause] No, not the dinosaurs, I have to poop on the potty to get the dinosaurs. How about [insert new movie] (Cars, Nemo, Beauty and the Beast).

He'll pick another one over the Dinosaur movie just like that when he remembers what he has to do to get that movie. Oh, the torture. I have told him numerous times that he can watch it right now if he will just go and try. He would just say, "No, I can't try! I can't do it."

Tonight I don't know what was different. The conversation started off the same.

The boy: Can I watch a movie?

Before I could even answer. . .

The Boy: The Dinosaur movie. Then a long pause. A very long pause.

And so I said, "Let's try going potty and we'll see."

He didn't even hesitate. He headed to the bathroom. Shocking! He climbed right up and said, "Gent (calling him by his first name and yes he calls him that lately its his new thing) can I hold the Dinosaur movie?" So, Gent got it for him. And we waited, and we sat, and we waited. Twenty minutes later I thought he was done. Ready to give back the movie. The last week has been melt downs, and yelling and screaming about going potty at all although he has kept his big boy pants dry he just holds in everything else until the Pull Up goes on at night. When he does go potty he'll say, "how about we try another day?" So, today, I was ready to give him the out. Ready to just give in. And so I asked him if he was ready to give back the movie and be done. He shocked me and said, "No, I am going to do it and we can watch the Dinosaur movie." Wow. OK. I guess we will sit here and wait. And so we did. We waited and waited and about 45 minutes later after offering to just put the movie away multiple times he told me "I will do it, it is coming." And so we waited. He and I sat in the bathroom FOREVER! F O R E V E R! But hugging the Dinosaur movie he said, "oh, what is that?" and he did it and he went. At 9:45 p.m. we were putting in the Dinosaur movie and watching it. Because it was worth it. It has been patiently waiting to be put in the DVD player and today it got its chance. The Boy was estatic. I was so proud. So excited. The Gent had to see it to believe it. We all sat and watched the Dinosaur movie together and it was fabulous! We are making progress. Maybe we can do this potty thing after all.

Love Getting Mail

Don't you love getting your mail this time of year? Rather than the good old junk mail and bills, getting a Christmas card is just so exciting. My Christmas cards came from the printer today and I love them! I am so excited to send them out and am so in love with them that I almost want to mail one to myself just to have the excitement of opening it! You are going to love them too. I can't give you too many hints or even a sneak peek because what kind of fun would that be (maybe next week I can post a picture after most of you have gotten them). All I will tell you is that I designed them myself and they are sort of a twist off of one of the card designs that I made. They are so great! Seriously. Get excited. Look for them in your mailboxes later this week. I just keep looking at them and you'll just want to keep looking at them too!

It's Potty Time!

It feels like we have been trying to potty train The Boy for months and months on end with no real luck. He has been going #1 in the potty for months but gets so lazy with a Pull Up on. He's worn Pull Ups for so long now that it is just really a diaper to him. Sigh. So, I have been feeling like a potty training failure. We will do so good all day long and then all of a sudden he'll get distracted and just go wherever which has been THE hardest thing for me. I can't handle pee and pooh everywhere. It makes me insane. Just the thought of him peeing on the couch or on the floor makes me anxious. For weeks I've felt like no matter how much I clean, it smells like urine wherever I go. Needless to say, it has been a great frustration. I have tried to be a patient potty trainer but there are times when I just can't take one more pair of poopy underwear. And so we revert. I revert. I give in to the Pull Ups just so that I won't have to worry about all of the above. And The Boy doesn't care. Then he doesn't have me reminding him every other minute that he is wearing his big boy pants and we need to keep them dry. And even though he won't go #2 in the potty, he totally knows when he needs to and will get a Pull Up just to go. We've ran him to the bathroom each and every time and he'll just simply say, "no, I can't poop on the potty" and he won't. He will put a Pull Up on himself just for that and tell us two minutes later that he needs his diaper changed.

But this week, this week I think we've had a break through. A small bit of success. He has been doing so good all week long and has been wearing big boy underwear with the exception of bed time. So today, with all of my anxiousness and worry to go along with it, we ventured out of the house in big boy underwear. The Boy & The Girl went over to The Gents's parents for a few hours so I could finish some Christmas shopping. I was nervous. I was terrified. I was praying that he didn't pee or poop on my in laws couch or floor because I would be mortified. I know it comes with the territory but I also felt like we can't revert one more time. I couldn't go to the Pull Up just to make it less of a worry for everyone (although believe me I thought about it numerous times). I kept reminding him in the car that he had big boy underwear on and if he needed to go potty he needed to tell someone. I wondered what I was thinking and thought for sure the carseat would be soaked any minute. As I reminded him again and again on the way to their house he finally said, "I got it, mommy." I was reminded at that moment how much he has grown up in the last three or four months. How much he has changed and how big he seems to me. He has these amazing conversations with me and he understands so much. For the first time during this whole potty training thing I felt like WE could do it. We both could. I've had friends tell me over and over again that I just needed to get over the issues with pee and poo getting everywhere and that he would do it when he was ready. It has been so hard. But I "think" I can let him wear his big boy underweare now without worrying every other second about it. I "think" I am finally there. I "think" I can finally just let him figure it out even if it does mean I end up scrubbing down the couch.

I worried the entire time I was gone that he was having too much fun and playing to hard to think about it. I thought for sure he had probably gone through the extra set of clothes and didn't have anything dry left. But when I went to pick them up, he was dry. He was in the outfit I took him in. He hadn't had an accident at all. I was so proud! I am sure that The Gents parents worried as much as I did about him going somewhere in their house and therefore took him to the potty a million times. But, it was a breakthrough! It was a success. We made it all the way home with dry pants. Success I tell you, success! I know you can do this buddy! (and so can I :-).

Me oh My!

Just to get going, I thought I'd share my 100 things about me that I wrote earlier this year for some of my blogger friends. Totally random and in no particular order. Here we go.

1. My kids are my life and I’m just so glad they are here.
2. I have the most wonderful, easygoing, loving husband who I love with all my heart.
3. I am so not an animal person but we have a yellow lab who is such a good dog.
4. I am a huge procrastinator and therefore work best under pressure.
5. I always throw my clothes on the bedroom floor at night.
6. I am a night owl and love to sleep in (although that never happens with two kids).
7. I love Italian food. . . anything creamy. . .nothing with marinara.
8. I have many dreams that I don’t follow because I feel too vulnerable.
9. I always worry about what people think of me.
10. If ever I say something stupid, I worry about it for weeks if not months.
11. I worry about my younger brothers and sisters like a mom.
12. I love to have people over.
13. I am very sarcastic and just hope that people know I’m joking most of the time.
14. I wish I had a better relationship with my parents.
15. Perfectionism is built in and I can’t help it in some aspects.
16. If I don’t think I can do something perfectly, I often think twice before doing it.
17. I have to sleep on the right hand side of the bed
18. I dread doing the laundry and put it off as long as possible.
19. I am afraid of the dark.
20. I love watching my kids learn new things. Their curiosity delights me.
21. I have to sleep with my feet poking out of the covers or I feel like I am suffocating.
22. I hate feeling trapped in any way.
23. I am becoming a bargain shopper – I love & hate it all at the same time.
24. I love to take bubble baths
25. My creative outlet is in scrapbooking or cardmaking.
26. I really like pretty much any crafty thing.
27. I often agree with people so I don’t have to explain my reasoning.
28. At the same time, I always feel the need to explain myself (see, I’m doing it right now!).
29. I hang out in my PJ’s most days.
30. I love dining at nice restaurants.
31. I love having a reason to get dressed up.
32. Every once in a while, I love to push my husband’s buttons and get him riled up.
33. My sweet tooth is my downfall.
34. I love it when my husband runs his hands through my hair.
35. I love it when my husband just sneaks up behind me and hugs me.
36. I love green beans and peas.
37. I absolutely hate call-waiting.
38. I expect a lot out of myself.
39. I love photography and capturing those moments that often tend to flee so quickly.
40. I love to shop.
41. I love decorating my house.
42. I would love to go back to school but can’t work it in right now. Someday.
43. I would love to volunteer in an orphanage.
44. I would love to visit Argentina to see where my husband served his LDS mission.
45. Three places I would love to visit would be Italy, Australia and New York (no, I’ve never been).
46. I have the best in-laws that anyone could ever ask for.
47. I hate wearing shoes (it goes back to the breathing through my feet :-)
48. I can’t leave my house without doing my hair and makeup.
49. I am a pessimist although I try so hard not to be.
50. I often worry about the “what if’s” of life.
51. I love cuddling up with my hubby and watching a movie.
52. I wish I could remember my mom’s mom. I think it would help me understand my mom better.
53. I’ve always wanted to learn sign language.
54. When I start cleaning, I feel the need to clean everything inside and out. Cupboards, walls, door jams, etc. so it takes ten times longer than it really probably needs to.
55. I love shopping for clothes for my kids and hate shopping for clothes for myself.
56. I want to learn web design.
57. I can’t stand hot weather. Anything above 90 and I get a migraine.
58. I can be indecisive.
59. I don’t like knick-knacks.
60. I unwind by checking my email and surfing the internet.
61. I am addicted to Craigslist although I haven’t bought anything from it for months.
62. I love my 4 Runner and will drive it until it just dies!
63. I would be a shoe person but can’t be with my size 13 feet.
64. I love winter scarves.
65. I love the smell of rain and love playing in the rain.
66. I wish I could remember more of my childhood (or maybe not)
67. My brother and sister are two of my best friends.
68. I can be shy until I’ve assessed the situation enough to know where I fit in.
69. I am leery of anything new until I’ve had a chance to research it.
70. I love family traditions.
71. My kids have taught me more in the short time they have been here than I could have ever imagined.
72. I am stricter than I ever could have imagined.
73. I have more patience than I ever thought I would have.
74. I would love to play the violin.
75. I wish I would have stuck with the piano when I was younger so that I could still play now. (Yes, I know it's not too late).
76. I have a fear of water.
77. I hate ironing.
78. I am a picky pita.
79. I love romantic comedies. Anything with Julia Roberts is a must.
80. My favorite ice cream is cheesecake with Kit Kat & cashew from Cold Stone.
81. I love drinking hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day.
82. My favorite TV shows are The Amazing Race, 24 and CSI.
83. I don’t really like to read.
84. I have a calling in the Primary.
85. I love to make up my own recipes.
86. I love black and white photography.
87. My memory fades more and more every day. It saddens me.
88. I’m good at math.
89. I don’t really love accounting-it’s not what I really want to do.
90. I love pancakes and French toast any time of the day.
91. I hate bacon and sausage and don’t really even like ham.
92. I often laugh off my insecurities.
93. I have jitter bug legs.
94. I love the smell of coffee although I don't drink it.
95. I hate surprises.
96. Our daughter was a fabulous surprise. (I’ll take surprises like that any day!)
97. I love the smell of campfire.
98. I love anything with berries. Love the smell, love the taste.
99. I loved summer school when I was younger.
100. I love the laughter of our children that fills our home every day.

Here we are!

I know it is hard to believe that I have finally switched over to a blog. It's been a long time coming and here I am! I'm sure I will continually change the layout as I can't decide what to do (or really need to figure out HOW to do it :-). So, for now, it will just come in pieces. I'll add some pictures soon for all of you missing the pictures since I have been so bad about that lately. I promise it will be worth the wait! And for family, friends and visitors too, I will introduce ourselves (maybe you'll learn something you never knew about our family!). So, here we are. The Gilded Pear!