Is it really possible?

There are two things that immediately enter my mind as soon as I look at a positive pregnancy test. the first one being "Yay! Oh wait, this thing eventually has to come out some how..." and the second one is "Oh crap! Now I have to potty train again!"

Samm wasn't so bad, she just absolutely refused until she was 3. Then she was pretty much a breeze except for occasional night time accidents.  James I started at 2 1/2. He was completely willing to pee in the toilet as along as I set the timer and took him every 30 minutes, which after a few months I was not so willing to do all day every day any more. And the pooping situation? One time he pooped in his underwear while jumping on a trampoline (doing canon balls) and when I asked him why he replied "it makes me happy." It ended up being a YEAR long process. After James I planned on waiting until Macy was 3, but it was Josh's first year of residency and we just couldn't afford diapers any more so I took a chance at 2 1/2. She wasn't quite as easy as Samm but caught on fairly quickly. Her big hang up being the poop. She was terrified of it. Like, started screaming if she saw it. She still has issues with it to this day and will not be in the same room as me if I am changing a poopy diaper.

So, last month Laila started asking to sit on the toilet. At first I just thought it was cute and would let her sit on it for a second with her clothes on. After a while though it was pretty obvious that she was ready and willing for more than that. I however was not! She was only 18 months old. Potty training was no where on my radar yet and I had not properly prepared myself mentally for the challenge.

A few weeks ago however I reluctantly gave in and started just testing the waters with our toes a bit. Letting her run around naked for long periods of time and sitting her on the toilet periodically. The first day we didn't have any success and several accidents, but every time it happened she would get really upset and come and show me where it was. The second day we finally timed it right and she had the biggest smile of pride on her face I have ever seen.

Less than a week and a lot of running around naked later we are all but finished with diapers. She still needs them for naps and bedtime.

Today we finally went to the store to pick out her big girl undies. She chose Hello Kitty, and of course wanted to try them on as soon as we got home. And not just one. we had to put on all 8!

So proud of her big girl self!

And this picture I took of her a few days ago. She was a little hesitant about pooping at first as I am figuring out is pretty normal with most kids. She had been holding it since the afternoon before, but went as soon as I let her sit with a book.

And, now that I've typed this whole post I'm sitting here thinking that it might be slightly strange to post about potty training and I've probably used the word poop way too many times. I'm sure I could have used it a lot more though, so be grateful for that!

And yes, it is totally possible to have a 19 month old that tells you when she needs to use the bathroom. They just have to be completely brilliant, as I am convinced of course that she is!

Where I've been, Josh turns 35, and take your wife to work day.

OK, I'm going to try and explain a little about why my blogging has been so scarce, but that's a little difficult right now. Keep reading and you will find out why.

So, the short (ish) version of why I haven't done much blogging is because I am just plain exhausted. After a six month break from exercise I joined the rest of the country this January in hitting the gym again. This time though I decided that I really wanted to get in shape. Something I have never done before. I was spending a couple hours in the gym 5-6 times a week and doing some workouts at home. Plus, I decided to take a serious look at what we were eating as a family and was honestly pretty disgusted and disappointed in myself as a mom. I had never really read any of the labels on the stuff my kids were eating and I discovered that I was stuffing my kids with sugar and mystery chemicals. Getting rid of processed foods though means more time in the kitchen making snacks I'm happy to serve my kids.

After so much hard work, here is what I was not prepared for. 1) like I mentioned before, straight up exhaustion. My body just could not keep up and I was literally falling asleep in church, which if you know me well you know I have trouble sleeping and that would never happen normally. 2) My kids rejected 90% of what I was making. It was so frustrating to spend hours planing and making food that no one would eat. 3) The amount of crap they were being given outside of our house. I don't expect them to never have candy again, but it seems like they are getting it every day from somewhere.

While I am super excited to report that for the first time in my life I have muscle definition (maybe someday I will be brave enough to post a picture), it's just not worth the sacrifices I've had to make for myself and my family (my house has not been really clean in weeks). So I'm cutting back on the crazy workouts (not giving them up completely) and buying some foods that come in packages (only short lists of ingredients with names I recognize) and hoping to find some balance.

And, speaking of balance Josh and I decided that even though we are eating healthy at home we still want to splurge for special occasions like birthdays and holidays. Last week Josh turned 35 and what he really wanted to eat more than anything was a Bloomin Onion. So, to Outback we went.

 

I caught her licking ranch off her plate with a huge smile on her face.

Free birthday desert that dad was nice enough to share.

I always forget a bib when we go out to eat. Fortunately this time most of it ended up on her face and not her shirt. 

And finally, today was a snow day from school. The kids were thrilled of course. Me, not so much, but I was going to make the best of it by doing some fun things in the kitchen with the kids. I was hoping that if they helped make the food, they might be more willing to eat it. Then I changed my mind though and decided I would rather spend my afternoon at the hospital with Josh. I'm not going to tell you what happened because I was told I need to come up with a better story. I will tell you though that I did NOT slice my finger because I used a very sharp knife to try and make the hole in the top of a very tiny essential oil bottle bigger. That would just be silly. 

 Josh was in surgery when I got there so I wasn't expecting him to come down, but I was very happy when he did. It's amazing how much more at ease I was having him making the call on my finger instead of an unknown ER resident.

 

In the end I just got a few stitches to close up the skin, but there was a lot of in-between stuff including an IV, tetanus shot, and having Josh shove needles into my hand to completely numb my finger so he could cut it open more to get a better look and make sure I didn't damage something important. He explained it to me several times and showed me diagrams but I could never explain it to all of you. I will tell you though that having my finger numbed hurt like hell! For women who have given birth, imagine multiple epidurals in your hand. I would not recommend it to anyone. They did give me quite the bandage for all my trouble and a pass from dishes for a whole week!

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If your squeamish like I am, keep scrolling really fast. For anyone who is interested though this is the nice little cut I gave myself. I sent Josh this picture after it happened. Actually I sent him a different picture first and he said "no I need you to open the cut and take a picture so I can see how deep it is." I am very proud of myself for not passing out while doing it, because I promise you I was feeling very light headed.

So here I sit with a very numb bandaged finger attempting to type. It's not so easy.

When mom is in bed sick for 24 hours

I woke up Sunday morning with the nursing mother's nightmare and spent the entire day in bed alternating between shivering and burning up.  Laila stayed in bed with me while the other 3 sat in front of the TV and fed themselves cereal and fruit snacks. When I finally emerged on Monday morning this is what I came downstairs too.

I was grateful that the house was at least still standing and all the children were still alive. And even though my poor body was still aching and I felt run over by a truck, the sight of the mess actually made me a little bit happy.

They really would fall apart without me!

I am needed!

Teach your kids how to walk school?

What is it with these girls of mine

Once again we are right back HERE. Do anyone else's babies have this problem or am I just super lucky? 3 out of 4 kids seems kind of crazy to me.

True Love

People keep asking me how I am feeling, so I though I would just put it out there for everyone that I am downright miserable!

I have to give myself a little pep talk everyday just to keep going. "3 weeks left. I can do this!" 

If I didn't have this darn pain in my hips than it might not be quite as bad. Although I'm sure I would still be feeling over baked and D.O.N.E. Are there really women out there that love being pregnant? I do love bits and pieces of it, but overall it's not my favorite part of motherhood. Especially the part where I have to use a golf club as a cane to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night! True story.

Last night I couldn't take it any more so I decided I would sleep on the couch because oddly enough it is the one place I can lay without being in a lot of pain. The only problem is the rest of me is incredibly uncomfortable and I don't get any more sleep than I would in bed and I usually end up with a head ache the next day. Anyway, last night I opted for the head ache instead of hip pain and without me even asking Josh grabbed a blanket and curled up on the other side of the couch so I wouldn't have to be alone.  

What a great man I have! Sure wish I could sleep that soundly!

No couch potatoes in this house!

(picture taken at the science center nutrition exhibit)

Josh and I have really started feeling like we need to teach our kids a little bit more about working hard. We make them do little chores during the week and they have a slightly longer list on Saturday mornings, but I think as far as slave driving goes, they have it pretty easy.

So, even though I didn't remember signing up to clean the church this Saturday I was glad when they reminded me. And honestly the kids were too. They love cleaning the church and as soon as we walk in they run and get the big rolling trash can so they can walk and around empty all the smaller trash cans. Once that's over they usually keep busy by cleaning chalk boards and dusting.

I walked around the corner to find Macy hard at work and being careful to not get any dust in her eyes!

After the kids and I were finished at the church we got a surprise phone call from Dad saying he was home from the hospital so we loaded up together and went to the Science Center.

After the Science Center, there was still more work to be done at home. The girls helped me inside, while James got his first lesson in mowing the lawn. Part of me felt sorry for him, but it was nice to see him working so hard. And the mower is self propelled so all he had to do was push down on the bar.

I think James was pretty proud of himself once he finished, but the poor kid doesn't realize how many more lawns are in his future!