the sugar rush...

After 4 or 5 double stuf Oreos, I saw what effect sugar has on a two-year-old...

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He did this for atleast 5 minutes solid. This was even after making rounds through the house.
On a side note: Charlie did learn how to dunk Oreos in milk. Gotta teach him the essential things in life. :)

up on daddy's head

Every night before Charlie goes to bed, he has to name every person in the pictures we have in the hallway. One night, I put Charlie up on my shoulders to do this instead of holding him up. But, then I realized that I didn't need to start that habit since I really needed to limit my lifting due to the pregnancy. But, as expected, the next night, Charlie said, "up on Mommy's head?" I told him "no" but he pitched a two-year-old fit so I said, "see if Daddy will hold you up." From then on, each night after we brush Charlie's teeth he says, "up on Daddy's head?"

monkey joe's

A month or so ago, Charlie was invited to attend a birthday party at Monkey Joe's. If you are not familiar with it, it is a building full of inflatables...slides, bouncies, etc. The party was for Nicholas' big sister, Angela. Nicholas is in Charlie's Sunday School class. They are buds and play alot at the church building. The party was on a Saturday so the place was PACKED. It just made me nervous to have that many kids running around. Not to mention that I didn't think Charlie would step foot on any structure so I wasn't sure how we were going to occupy our time. But, I had my hopes. When we got there, I immediately spotted Nicholas' mom, Misty, and she pointed out where Nicholas was. He was in a bouncy for little kids and was having a ball. I showed Charlie that Nicholas was in there and shoved him in. Charlie just went to playing and bouncing too! So, we spent our time in this bouncy and a slide nearby. The twin girls that are in Charlie's Sunday School class as well would only play on the slide so the four kids (along with tons others that I didn't know) just had so much fun climbing in and sliding down. Charlie did also enjoy pizza, cake and watching Angela open her presents. I forgot my camera so Misty sent me some of the pictures she took that day of Charlie...

more on potty training...

We have finally reached some level of "success" in the potty training arena. Charlie is not afraid to tee tee on the potty anymore. Whew! He has gotten to where he will tell me sometimes when he needs to go. He actually seems to do better when we're out than when we're at home. It's either less distractions when we're out or I'm just on my game more. Probably both. It's hard to pull Charlie away from Sesame Street. Luckily, he can see it from the potty. That's been the only way I can convince him to go to the potty. He's gotten very good at "holding it". We still have accidents but not many. It's mainly just a #2 accident most days which I can handle. He's just got to get on a schedule with this so that I can be proactive. But, he has gone #2 on the potty. His reward for tee tee or #2 (I just don't like using the word "poo poo" except in my house) on the potty is still 2 M&M's and stickers. He also gets to flush which is a big deal to him.

Charlie is usually dry when he wakes up from his nap each day. I haven't been very good to change him out of his diaper in the mornings very quickly so I really couldn't tell you if he has been dry through the night yet. Lazy, I know. :\ My guess though is he hasn't.

So, it's been two weeks and I feel like we have come leaps and bounds. It's a continuing process but he has successfully tee teed on the potty at the church building, Wal-Mart and Publix. I figured that would be the hardest part. He has yet to use the potty at school. Soon...

projects

Here are a couple of my latest projects:

Friday night was our Ladies' Night Out at church. We had a great turnout and such yummy food! The theme was "Living In Contentment". Our preacher's wife, Emily, was our speaker and she did a FANTASTIC job! I was asked to paint the backdrop for the event. The picture above is my handiwork. I guess this is one of the talents God gave me so I'm happy to use it when needed.

It was such a nice time to spend with wonderful Christian ladies, many of whom are my closest friends and confidants...

Also, Sunday afternoon, our church gave Kasey a baby shower. This is her and Derek's first baby and she is now loaded up! We attend such a generous congregation! I gave her a little outfit for the baby boy coming and also made a scrapbook/picture page for the nursery. I matched the bedding as close as I could. Here is a pic:

potty training continues

We had a great success yesterday. Charlie went tee tee on the potty at church! Granted, we took a couple of trips in and out of services but when he says "tee tee mommy", you go! And yes, it took some convincing but he did finally go. The rest of the day he pretty much spent in a diaper so it caused a setback for today. But, I have noticed that if he pees on the floor, he stops midstream. We then run to the potty but he still refuses to use it. So, I had a few more puddles to clean up today but they weren't ponds like they have been. He also took advantage of his diaper today while at Walmart and Publix. I got in line to check out at Walmart and Charlie grabbed himself so I said, "Charlie, do you need to go tee tee?" He said, "No. Yes." :\ So off we went leaving the full buggy in line. I was nice, atleast, and told the cashier where I was going. Luckily, I hadn't put any of the groceries on the conveyor yet. And, no. There was no tee teeing in the potty. Ugh. By the time Charlie told me in Publix and we got to the bathroom, his diaper was already wet. Tonight was the same as this morning. No successes. Maybe tomorrow will be better...

At's effant's spot

Tonight, during Charlie's bath, he was playing with his squirty toys like always but did something that I just chuckled at. He has four particular animals that sit on the ledge of the tub instead of going in the net, simply because they don't fit but it has to be these four particular ones and they have to be in a certain order. It has to be duck, elephant, pig and raccoon. The duck and the elephant had fallen in the water. He moved the pig over and said, "No, no ig. At's effant's spot." and then moved it back. He placed the duck up on the ledge next to the pig and said, "No, no uck. At's effant's spot." and moved it to its appropriate spot. It just tickled me. Charlie does little things like this alot but it's hard to remember to put them in the blog.

potty training - day six

Well, Charlie finally showed some signs of progress today. I'm trying not to get my hopes up because I've heard from a few other moms...once step forward, two steps back. But, my confidence with it went up today and I'm hoping Charlie's did as well. Since Daniel and I have noticed that Charlie "holds" himself when he needs to go pee, I was watching him like a hawk this morning. In a matter of 10 or 15 minutes, we were in the bathroom 3 or 4 times. Charlie just will not tee tee on the potty. I turned on Barney for him since he was asking for it and because it wasn't coming on PBS today. I walked into the kitchen to fix something to eat and I heard, "uh-oh." Puddle. All the times I took him to the potty though, there was no arguing from Charlie. I guess because he knew he needed to go. He was also telling me he had to go tee tee. Granted, not every time but hey, it's something. I've also decided that Charlie is going to have to clean up his puddles from now on. He's only two so, yes, he needs help but I'm hoping that if he has to always clean up his mess that he will learn not to make a mess that he has to clean up. He, unfortunately, didn't really care about cleaning it up. Figures.

Charlie disappeared around noon for a few minutes. I didn't think anything of it as this is not unusual but when he reappeared he said, "made mess mommy." I asked him if he tee teed on the floor and he said "yes." Luckily, it was only a little spot on the carpet. He had filled his undies another way. Guess I need to pay more attention to those disappearing acts. :) These were our only incidents before he went down for his nap. Charlie chose big boy underwear again for nap. He woke up with undies and pants that were a little wet but he didn't wet his bed (that we could tell).

So, the pee pee dancing begins and crotch-holding ensues. About 45 minutes after he got up, we took many trips to the potty. After our every 30 seconds potty trips, I decided Charlie needed to sit on the potty for an extended amount of time. I did everything I could to keep him there. He was not happy about it. I didn't force it but he was upset and crying. I let him cry on my shoulder and play with my hair while still sitting on the potty. This was my attempt to calm him down. After quite a few minutes, Charlie did FINALLY tee tee on the potty. It's almost like he's scared to go tee tee on the potty. Just another hurdle we've got to get over. But, as always, M&M's and stickers all around!

Charlie had another successful visit to the potty late this afternoon. We made a few attempts and then, as I got him to sit there a little longer, he tee teed...without any crying! Daniel said that Charlie told me "tee tee" before our trip to the bathroom. We noticed that he was beginning to run for no apparent reason so we knew it was time. I've just learned to watch closely for the signs. That has eased the stress of the situation for me. I can now see when he has to go and not stress so much about the in-between times. So...two successes! woo hoo! This is the first day we've had two and in a row!

We'll see what tomorrow holds...

snow!

We had a nice accumulation of snow yesterday. I was excited to get out in it and Charlie seemed curious. I think he was just happy about the idea of going outside. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow once we were out there. The only way I could get him to touch it was to rake it off his slide and his table with his hands. He wouldn't hold, let alone throw, a snowball.

Khaki, on the other hand, didn't skip a beat. She was so excited to have us outside playing with her. Snow doesn't slow her down! I did manage to catch a couple of pictures amongst all the running. This was, by far, my favorite shot:

I took this next picture at about 4:00 - 2" inches of snow in about 2.5 hours. I measured again late last night and we were almost at 3".

Here are a few more pics...

Valentine's Day party at school

At Charlie's MMO yesterday, they had a party to celebrate Valentine's Day.

All the kids exchanged valentines. Charlie really enjoyed handing his out. He talks about all the kids in his class alot but I learned that he knew each of them by name and by face.

They each had their own valentine boxes. Most of the kids immediately went for the suckers. Charlie just had fun playing in the box...

Here are the valentines I made for the kids from Charlie. I decided on little viles of bubbles instead of suckers. I just made little tags to tie to the viles and added cute little Valentine stickers I found at Michael's.

There were lots of goodies...

And a craft at the end. Charlie had fun with the stamps...

potty training - day five

Charlie went to school this morning so I got a much needed break from potty training. I kept him out of school on Wednesday for training but didn't want him to miss another day, especially since they were having a Valentine's Day party and were going to exchange valentines. I didn't want to put the big boy underwear on his two teachers so Charlie went to school in a diaper. I told Ms. Carla to take him to the potty with all the other kids when they go. I was back at the school around 10 to help with the party. All the kids went to the potty after snack. No luck getting Charlie to actually tee tee on the potty but he went through the motions. He had managed to stay dry though. Once we were back home, it was only about 30 minutes until naptime so for my sanity I just left Charlie in his diaper. He managed to take advantage of this too by doing his usual business in it. I put him in a diaper for naptime as well. Once he was up though, the training resumed.

It had begun to snow while Charlie was napping so I was anxious to get him outside since there was a pretty good amount on the ground. I took Charlie to the potty not long after he got up and nothing. I left him in his undies and got him dressed to go outside. We were out there twice over the next hour or so and had no accidents. We kept taking him every hour or so. Charlie did eventually have an accident. We cleaned it up and moved on. But, Charlie also went tee tee on the potty later that night. M&M's all around! This was, however, after multiple trips and lots of convincing. Daniel and I have started to notice the signs quite well and know to get Charlie to the potty. It's just getting him to release and actually go tee tee.

As you can tell, our attitudes are better. My sanity has returned, momentarily. :) We are seeing small signs of progress so I'm grasping to those and hanging on for dear life! Those are moments of hope.

The multiple trips to the potty are starting to all run together so I'll slack off on the potty posts unless something major happens...good or bad. I'm sure you are all tired of reading about it anyway. Sorry about that. But, the blog is as much for me as it is for you so when I go to potty train the second one that's on the way, I can read through these again and know that losing my mind is normal. So, thanks for hanging with me if you're still here...

drink your wine in front of God

an interesting study...take a minute to read:

Drink Your Wine in Front of God

And just a quick thank you to Neil for taking the time to truly study God's word and depend on it solely...we are truly blessed to have you at Piedmont Rd!

potty training - day four

And the saga continues...with one success today and alot of accidents. About 11:00 today, I was about to just give up and wait until right before Charlie starts kindergarten. That really the drop dead date anyways, isn't it? :) I called Daniel for a pep talk and some moral support. We talked about different things to try, etc. and he pretty much left it up to me as to continue or not. His suggestion was to finish out the day and take a break for the weekend. But I am bound and determined for this not to beat me. Surely, he'll get the idea soon, right? PLEASE tell me "yes"!

The morning was the usual routine. Fighting and kicking every twenty minutes from both of us. And still puddles on my floor. I decided to change it up. This was all I knew to do at this point. I quit using the timer and went to taking Charlie to the potty every hour.

Ahh...my sanity is returning.

When naptime came, Charlie wanted an Elmo diaper. I told him he had to wear a bear diaper and he didn't like that idea. So, I gave him the option of a bear diaper or big boy underwear. He chose the underwear. With the luck I've been having, I expected him to wake up in a wet bed but I was wrong! Yay! I started taking Charlie to the potty once he was up because I knew he had to go since he woke up dry. About 5:00, potty time came around. Success! But, I think it was just good timing. Either way, we celebrated!

The next few times yielded nothing. Right after our trip around 7:00, puddle. Ugh! Charlie just will not go tee tee on the potty, even though I know he has to go. I have figured out that he paces or runs back and forth when he has to go. I guess this helps him hold it. He has learned quite well how to hold it. We have less accidents, but bigger puddles. If I could just figure out how to get him to not like wetting his pants...

Well, on to the next day...

potty training - day three

Let's see...day three...not good. Charlie refuses to go tee tee on the potty. It has become a struggle to get him to even go in the bathroom for potty time. He is holding it in quite well but then a large puddle comes later. The morning time was as expected. I took him every time the timer went off even with the kicking and crying. Nothing. Then about five minutes after our potty time trip...accident. I've been keeping him in the living room where there are hard floors just to make my job easier. Charlie took a short nap (only about and hour and a half) but stayed dry in his diaper. We began the regular trips to the potty again and still no results. I hopped in the shower between visits and put Elmo on in my bedroom. As I was getting ready, Charlie began pacing and running back and forth. I've figured out that he does this to help hold it in. His undies were a tad wet so I began doing potty trips a little more often than the timer was set for hoping I would catch him at some point. Needless to say, I had to work around Elmo though. I figured out if I paused Elmo on the TV that he would go sit on the potty with the motivation that he could come back and watch more. Still nothing. And later...a puddle. I was so happy to see Daniel come in the door. I was at my wits end by this point. Charlie had been fighting me all afternoon to go sit on the potty and my nerves were fried. It was nice to have a break outside the house too. We went to church...Charlie in a diaper. I took him to the potty a couple of times while we were there but again, nothing. He managed to fill up his diaper in between potty visits though. :\ We'll see how tomorrow goes. I really don't want to give up but I completely understand why people do and why they use pull-ups. I think I'm just gonna have to change my tactics. Off to wash undies...

potty training - day two

Whew! This is work but today was much better. We actually made some progress. Charlie had an couple of accidents this morning, especially during Sesame Street. I think I may need to forego Sesame Street for a few days but Charlie wakes up asking if Elmo is on so that may be easier said than done. :) Charlie never pooped yesterday so I was interested to see what today held for us. About 11:00, we turned on Barney and Charlie got pretty still...sign #1. Then he began to whine and fuss for no reason...sign #2. So off to the potty we went. He was kicking and screaming this time which is rare. He wouldn't get on the potty but just cried. All he wanted to do was hug on me. He was sure to keep an eye on the TV though so he could still watch Barney. :) I let him hug on me but continued to try and get him on the potty. I stood him up at one point and saw the cringe-strain face. I felt of his underwear and sure enough...so I quickly pulled his undies down and sat him on the potty. He finished his business in the potty and also peed a little as well. All the while, crying the whole time. It took him a little while to calm down but we went through the whole sticker/M&M thing anyways. So I think that's probably considered a half-success.

We continued with potty time until his naptime. He never went teetee again before his nap, either in the potty or on the floor so he's learning to hold it. I considered that progress. I wasn't constantly cleaning up a mess. At this point, we were on undie pair #3. I expected a soaked diaper when Charlie got up from his nap but got the opposite...it was completely dry. Once I convinced Charlie to start the potty time cycle again, he sat on the potty like a big boy. We were reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and about halfway through Charlie looked down...he was teeteeing in the potty! woo hoo! I was elated! It was a bladder emptying one too not just a tinkle. So stickers and M&M's all around!

Every time we go to sit on the potty, he leans over it and says, "no tee tee. no poo poo." So I just respond, "No. So YOU need to put some tee tee and poo poo in the potty." He didn't use the potty again for a while but he didn't have an accident either. We're on pair #4 at this point.

After dinner, we had a few half-successes. Charlie's undies would be a little wet so I knew he needed to tee tee but he wouldn't let it all go. He would just do a little and then want to flush. That's his new favorite part. We did this a couple of times. I put him in the bath around 8:00 and almost the second he sat in the water, the fountain began. Charlie wasn't happy about it. He kept saying, "tee tee potty". So Daniel and I were happy that he was upset about not going tee tee on the potty. (To be honest, I was just glad I didn't have to clean up the puddle.)

So off to wash some undies and on to the next day of potty training...

calling all mommies...

We're having bedtime issues with Charlie so I'm calling any and all mommies who read my blog for advice...

We go through the whole bedtime ritual every night but Charlie will not stay in his bed. An hour and a half or two hours later, we're still escorting him back to his bed. We gave in, in the beginning, because I was concerned about him getting enough sleep but I soon realized that's what he's wanting. We've tried everything we can think of...no success. We are at a loss. Any suggestions?

I did catch a cute picture though on one of the nights we gave in...

potty training - day one!

Well, we survived the first day of Charlie potty training. I'll put it into perspective for you. I bought seven pairs of big boy underwear. (Yes, I debated on buying more. And, no, I'm not using pull-ups.) We started training about 8:15 am and by noon we were on pair #9. Umm...yeah. Needless to say, by 1:00, I was ready to put a diaper on the kid and but him down for a nap!

The technique I am using is to take him every 20 minutes to sit on the potty. He has to sit there atleast a couple of minutes. If nothing, then we get up, set the timer and on to the next thing. This proved challenging in that it's next to impossible to pull a two year old, who's addicted to Sesame Street, away from the TV. I just had to bite the bullet and turn the TV off after it went off and before anything else interesting came on. But, this also led to an accident on the carpet in his room. It was turning out that Charlie was peeing more than the intervals I was taking him and they never fell at the same time. So puddles later...still no success. Daniel and I heard a few tinkles tonight after dinner but not a bladder emptying. From what I understand, Daniel got his share of puddles tonight while I ran to the grocery store.

Charlie has gotten accustomed to the timer in that when he hears it he says, "potty" and runs to push the button to turn it off. He's still a little reluctant to sit on the potty but we're making progress. I tried using a potty chair on the toilet but decided against it because I noticed that if he did actually pee, it wouldn't go in the potty so he's training to sit on the toilet with no aids. That took alot of convincing! Charlie's fine with it now.

I had it all planned out much better than what actually happened but isn't that how it always works? I had the potty chart, stickers and an Elmo potty book. I talked all big about the big boy underwear. Charlie could have cared less. When it got challenging to get him to sit on the potty, I brought out the M&M bribe. (Never thought I would be thankful for the sugar stash from Grandma & Grandpa.) That worked for a few times. I've read many a book today and sang many a song just to keep him on the potty and I still got nothing...

So, I'm off to wash some more undies. On to the next day...

hubby's b-day

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So today is my sweet husband's birthday. No. 29 for him. We don't do presents for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, etc. so I thought I would brag on him a little as he's been so good to me here lately. Pregnant or not, he's such a sweetie. He's a fixer so Daniel is always striving to fix whatever problems arise. With this pregnancy, I've been completely useless and feel that way often. I have had no energy...none. But, I've had no complaints from my DH that the house is not clean, the laundry's not done, toys are everywhere. He just either ignores it or will take it on himself. I mean, how many people have a husband like that? Daniel will just whisk Charlie away when I need a break.

I am so blessed to have a husband who works hard to keep a wife and child at home...soon to be wife and two kids at home. He is always conscious of what it takes for us to do that. I tend to forget sometimes that the money is tight. Daniel is always thinking of the future instead of the here and now. Because of that, our bills always get paid even when an unexpected one comes up...which seems to be often.

I have a God-fearing husband who is faithful to that God. I prayed for that and couldn't have gotten a better one. He is truly a great spiritual head of the family and takes that role quite seriously. My son has a wonderful role model in his daddy both in the family and in the church.

I won't sugar coat him too much. I mean, we all have our flaws and I've learned many of his but I love and appreciate him so much. Thank you sweetie for being the man of my dreams and I hope you have a wonderful birthday...however uneventful it is! :)

14 weeks and counting...

I had another OB visit with the doc today. Just a usual visit...weight, BP, baby's heartbeat check, etc. I had lost about 5 pounds since my last visit which surprised all of us. The nurse asked if I had been sick and I said yes but not 5 pounds worth! I have been having trouble getting enough to eat during the day. I eat until I can't eat anymore and then I'm hungry again quickly. I'm just not getting enough and apparently not getting enough of the right stuff to sustain me through the day so the doc and I had a conversation about that. We then had the conversation of..."Did you have trouble gaining weight with your first pregnancy? Are you withholding on food on purpose? Are you afraid to gain weight?" Come on people. So I lost weight one month. Big deal. Didn't we just talk about the fact that I'm not getting enough to eat and ways to help that? I would understand the questions if I was continuing to not gain weight or losing weight. Anyway...on a positive note...the baby's heartbeat was good. She had no trouble finding it. Doc said it was around 160. Isn't a girl's heartbeat suppose to be high? Just saying... :)