Potty Training Part 1

I had been talking a lot about starting the potty training process with Audrey. However, the process with John was a LONG one, and it hasn't even been a year that he's been fully trained. So I wasn't really all that excited about starting up again. However, Audrey had a habit of peeing on the bathroom floor every time I undressed her to take a bath, so about 3 weeks ago I decided to start sitting her on the potty as the water was running so that if she peed at least it was in the toilet and not on my floor. Wouldn't you know that once I started sitting her on the potty she stopped that silly habit, until this week. On Tuesday night as I was getting John and Audrey ready for bath I sat Audrey on the potty and she peed, not a lot but enough that she knew what she had done. I made a big deal about it, and of course John poured on the praise and join in on the excitement of the moment, and Audrey soaked it all in as proud of herself as she could possible be. I figured it was the first step in the right direction, but still did not have any plans to take it any further anytime soon. I thought if I was lucky she would continue to use the potty before bath for a while and that was about it. She (as usual) had other plans. The next morning when she woke up John was yelling that he had to go to the bathroom, so Audrey decided that she had to go to. As long as she was asking how could i say no, so I took her and she went....a lot! Again she was so proud of herself, and loved the attention it got her so she kept it up through out the day. At this point I decided I had to stick with it. So the lat few days have been spent running Audrey to the potty every 30-45 mins. It's a lot of work! And in just the 3 days we have been doing it she has had an awesome day where we only had 1 wet diaper, a not so good day because mom was busy working on a house project where she only successfully made it to the potty twice that day, and today has been a so so day. She started out strong this morning, but as the afternoon began she has seemed to have lost some interest for the time being. I was getting a little frustrated, but I'm not going to push it. At this point she knows that its there and I will continue to ask her to go, but not going to make a big deal if she doesn't want to. I'm pretty confident that her interest will peak again soon, and have a feeling that once she gets the hang of it, it's going to be a pretty quick process.

The one thing I did not anticipate was the jealousy John would show. He was excited for her, because I was excited for her the 1st night. The next day however, when she really took off with it and I let her call grandparents and aunt to brag about her new accomplishments, John's jealousy came to a head. He was one very unhappy boy that Audrey was getting so much attention. So not only was I busy running Audrey to the potty every half hour but I was also dealing with a very grumpy boy the first day. Thankfully John has a very good memory for a child his age. So we sat and talked about the time we spent with him, when he was potty training

and all the attention, and surprise he got during that time, and how proud I was of him for completing the process. I also asked if he would like to help Audrey along in her journey, by being excited for her and telling her what a big girl she is. After having our discussion he's attitude toward the situation has been much better. He is one of Audrey's biggest supporters now. Encouraging her to go when he has to go, and helping her count the stickers on her stick chart on a very regular basis.

Honestly, I still have mixed emotions. I would be thrilled to be past the diaper stage, we have had at least one child and 2 for a while in diapers for almost 4 years now! However, it's just one more step toward Audrey becoming a little girl, and I know that should be my goal to encourage her to grow and reach these milestones, but I'm not completely ready. There is still part of me that thinks of her as my baby girl. Which is getting harder and harder to do every day. She is growing and progressing so fast recently that it's becoming painfully obvious that her baby days are in the past, and she is now our vibrant and sassy little girl.

Playing is Learning

As many of you know I have a degree in Early Childhood Education, and although I have never used my degree professionally I do think it plays a large roll in who I am as a mother. Is it worth the amount of money I spent? I'm not so sure because I went to a private christian college, and it was expensive! However, I would do it all over again because I fall back on so much of what I learned in my Early Childhood classes as a mother. While in school we where taught about "teachable moments." A lot of the way I have approached, teaching my children have come from moments just like that. When they show interest in something, and we use that interest and build upon it. John is an exceptional little guy, he is eager to please and loves a challenge. This being his personality, he is very easy to teach. He is three and half years old, and he can recognize his alphabet upper case, and the majority of his lower case, he knows his numbers 1-10, can look at the numbers and put them in numerical order, and also has one to one ratio down, he has his colors down, and he knows all his basic shapes, he can write his name, and he's continually amazing us with his puzzle skills. The best part of it, is that we have never pushed him to do any of it. When he was just 2 years old he pointed out a letter in one of his alphabet books that he loved to look at and told me what it was, to my surprise! Sadly I don't remember what letter it was but I know it was a vowel, I praised him for being right and was so excited that it fueled his desire to know more. So I would write a vowel on his drawing board tell him what it was and have him repeat it and in a matter of days he could recognize his upper case vowels. He loved having the one on one time with my and all the praise he got during this time because it was right after his sister was born that he would continually bring us his board and ask to play the letter game. Once he had his vowels down we started with the rest of the alphabet and because to him it was a game where he was always praised for being right and never reprimanded for being wrong it became something he loved to do. That is how most of everything he knows has been taught. He showed interest in the area, and we step in and encourage the process along by making it something fun and exciting. It has only been recently that we actually set a time slot a side each day to work on something academically, and still it is always done as a game or something he's going to enjoy. Lately he has developed a curiosity about shadows. He can be found in a dark room with his flashlight and tons of toys at any time of the day, and he'll sit there for almost an hour at time making shadows on the wall. I love to sit and watch him unnoticed, and listen to him giggle as figures out that moving them closer to or further from the source of like makes them bigger or smaller on the wall.

I Love his curiosity.

And his desire to understand how thing work.

And the way he can self entertain!

John has also taken it on himself to teach Audrey, and it's adorable. He is creative, and encouraging, and patient. He came up with this game on his own, and they both love it! They had been playing this for a while when I decided to tape it, so by the time I got the camera out there was little less enthusiasm from both of them, but you'll get the general idea.

John Teaching Audrey Her Colors.

I love, love, love moments like these. It touches my hearts in so many ways. To see them playing and working together, him take such a leading role, and to watch her look to him for direction. When it comes down to it children are learning all day long, and with just a little guidance from us (their parents) they can prove to be much more capable of things we give them to little credit for. So I implore you, if you are the parent of or someone who is involved with young children, get involved with their play! Watch for the moments that you can build off of, and present them with a challenge. They will eagerly rise to the occasion!

He Gave Peace.

Thursday morning we took Audrey in to the hospital and she has tubes put in her ears. She's had numerous ear infections over the last year, and it had started to affect her hearing. I was nerves going in, more than I care to admit. Not so much about the procedure its self, because I knew it was a pretty easy and quick procedure. But a fear of having to hand over my baby girl in a conscious state to complete strangers and watch them take her away from me screaming and crying and I could do nothing to comfort her. Knowing that her fear would only be heightened when she in a room full of complete strangers wearing mask would be strapped to a table against her will and have some thing placed over her face. Would she feel abandoned? Will she lose all faith in me as her mother to protect her, because i just stood there and let them take her from me ? This played through my mind all night long and I cried and even began to feel sick to my stomach. I prayed a lot through out the night, for peace not only for myself but for Audrey. And He came through in such a BIG way! The entire experience went better then I not only could have expected, but could have ever hoped for. Before surgery Audrey couldn't have been any happier. She has mom & dad's sole attention, she had her blanky and teddy, and was basking in the all the attention she was getting from the nurses and doctors. She was a little quiet but soaking it all in non the less. After doing some paper work, answering questions, and checking her vitals, they took us down to the surgical area to wait until everyone was ready. Knowing what was coming, I held her a little tighter, kissed her more, and emphasized over and over just how much I loved her. She still was loving the attention that she was getting from everyone else, who had gathered around her bed until go time. Then it was time, I handed Audrey over to the nurse, and she just went. No crying not so much as a look back, and although I still teared up it was nothing like I had feared it would be. I still worried, wondering what was happening back in the OR. Although still nerves, I was peaceful. Recovery was what ended up being the hardest part of the entire morning, and it was not all that bad. She was crying and not very easily consoled, but I believe it was just the feeling of being a little disoriented from the gas, and waking up in a strange room, with people she didn't know. While trying to comfort her, I was informed that she did excellent through the entire procedure. That she never cried or carried on, and that news alone couldn't have made me any happier. I was so proud of my baby girl for being such a trooper, and couldn't thank God enough for a peace that only He could have given her. Which in turn made the entire experience so much easier on me as well. Once we where left alone in her room, Audrey calmed right down. Alone with mom , dad,blanky the Disney channel and some Froot Loops and all was right in her world again.

They came in once more to check her vitals, and give us our discharge information and that was it. By 10 am we where headed home, and by that afternoon you would have never known Audrey had been in surgery that morning. We are happy to have it have it behind us, but couldn't be more pleased with the way everything worked out. I can't thank all of our friends, and family,enough. All of your thoughts, prayers, and words of comfort where needed and appreciated!

This One's For the Girls!

This weekend I was given the opportunity thanks to my husband, and the husbands of my girlfriends to spend the entire weekend with 2 of my best friends from my college days! It was amazing, and only makes me wish it was something we could do more often. The three of us Kim, Heather, & myself are all stay at home moms, who in about 3 weeks time we all be mothers of 2 children each. Kim's expecting her 2nd at the end of the month!!! It was the first time the 3 of us have had time alone with out our husbands, or children since Heather's little girl was born 6 years ago this coming May! What you may ask do 3 moms of very young and active children do with a weekend alone...Nothing! LOL, OK not really, but we did not cook, clean, chase kids, or stop fights, we just relaxed! Friday night we ran out to grab some dinner, and movies but once we got back to the house and started catching up on each others lives, time became oblivious to us. It was after 12 am before we realized, and we where still in the same spots since arriving other than our quick trip for food, and we had done nothing but eat and talk. Which is pretty much how the rest of the weekend played out. We had grand plans of sleeping in the next morning, but our kids have unfortunately set out internal alarm clocks for us, and heather and I where both awake by 7 am. Determined not to get out of bed, that's where we stayed for the next 3 and a half hours. Talking of course:)

The rest of the day we, ate lunch at Panera Bread, made a trip to walmart where we spent more time looking in the children's sections than anything. We wher headed back to the house when we saw him!....The Ice Man...It was the highlight of our day...Rita's was open! We had to stop :) We had the most amazing Gelatis. If you don't know who the Ice man is or what Rita's and a Gelati is , you are missing out! The quote on the cup says it all :) After indulging ourselves we went back to the house where we watched one of the movies we rented, after which we finally decided we should get around for the day seeing it was almost 4 pm. Once we where all ready we went to dinner at Champs. one of the best parts of an all girl weekend is the food! We ate things we don't have on a regular basis. Like the Gelatis, and our appetizer at dinner that night. Spinach and artichoke dip!

After dinner went and saw the movie "Beastly." The theater and restaurant where both in the same are as the mall, and being a Saturday night it was a pretty busy place. So we had parked on the upper level of the parking garage. On our way back to the car after climbing the stairs to the top level instead of watching where I was walking, I was looking around thinking that it would be a neat back round for a group picture and i totally missed the step down into the garage and put on quiet a show. I tried catching myself so I wouldn't actually fall, and we all know that do so only makes the fall that much worse. After losing my balance from missing the step down i took 3 or 4 quick shaky steps because of the heels i was in with arms flailing, and finally lost it and went down hard! Thank God there where no cars driving buy at the moment, or it could have been much worse then just the scraped up knee and hands that I walked away with. Kim & Heather where true friends, after rushing to my side to make sure i was OK and pick up the contents of the purse I was caring that where now scattered across the floor of the garage, they lost it and so did I. We drove home in a state of hysteria, laughing so hard we where crying. Thankfully the the rest of the nigh proceeded with out an incidents. We went back home put in yet another movie, made some monkey bread (Yes more food that we really didn't need but it was O so good!) and then dozed off one at a time during the movie. It was a awesome weekend, that I will not soon forgot. And not only because of the bruises on my hands and knees:) I never did get the group picture I was after in that stupid garage, but thanks to Heather at least I have a picture of Kim & I.

As fun and relaxing as it was, I was happy and eager to get back home to my family. Whom did quiet well with out me, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Wright, Rachel, Cynthia, and Aaron. Just maybe , they'll let me sneak away more often ;)

O What a Night

As a general rule, the children are not aloud to sleep in mom and dads bed at night. That's how it's always been . They have their own rooms with their own beds and that's where they are to spend the night. Not saying that's how it should be for everyone, but that's what works for us. Aaron & I both enjoy our own space, and a good nights sleep. I broke that rule last night. Last night was the worse night I have ever had with Audrey, minus the night we brought her home from the hospital. That was bad, I actually called the OB ward at 3:30 am, and stoped just short of begging them to take her back :) However, back to last night my baby girl who usually enjoys going to bed, and once their is rarely heard from til morning, was a little less then herself last night. Her usual bed time is 7:30, but last night i tried laying her down just before 7 because she had a long night the night before, and we had messes up her nap schedule during the day. She was not happy about her early bed time, but I turned off the light and shut the door,.She fussed for a moment but then all was quiet, so I proceeded to get ready for church. As I was leaving I heard her fussing again, so i waited it out and again she seemed to have settled down so I left. Not 20 minutes into church Aaron called for me to come home because Audrey was a basket case. Once home I rocked and sang to her and she calmed down, so i laid her down only for her to start again. This time as it was past her normal bed time, I went in told her to calm down and go to sleep or she was going to get herself in trouble. That did not work, I followed through with my warning, and still she carried on. Not knowing what else to do I brought her down to my room, put her favorite movie on and laid in bed with her. She started dozing off so i took her back to her room, just for her to start screaming again. I was at my wits end at that point. I decided all I could do was let her cry it out. After about 15 minutes she settled down, so I went in and checked on her and she was sleeping peacefully, finally! However, 30 minutes later she was screaming again at this point all rules went out the window . I brought Audrey into bed with me, and set daddy up on the couch. Not that the bed isn't big enough for the 3 of us, but we figured he would get more rest out there then in the room with us. The rest of the night was too bad, other than she wanted to sleep right up against me, and as i mentioned earlier I need my space! She stirred a few time through out the night but settled quickly when she realized she was in bed with me. I have to admit that although I have no plans on letting this become a habit, I rather enjoyed having her sleep with me. There was something special about waking up to my little girl curled up against me and hearing the slow and peaceful rhythm of her breathing. There was also a moment when I woke to her petting my cheek, and when I opened my I eyes, I saw her sweet smiling face, and she said "hi mommy". My heart melted, I love my sweet little girl! As difficult as she can be at times, I can't imagine life with out her. Daddy ended up having a long night as well. John also has come down with the cold, and he too was up a few times through out the night. Thankfully daddy was able to handle that situation, and I found my two boys in John's bed this morning who also had a very long night. Needless to say, we are all a bit tired today, and praying that things go back to normal tonight!