Warning: Once again, this post contains details that maybe only I am interested in :)
We have really taken kind of a break this weekend because of other obligations that we already had. Saturday night at 6:30 we went to a friend's birthday party and although he went in a diaper, he had only had one accident up until then since he woke up Saturday morning. Today he went in a diaper to Nursery and then we were at a luncheon until three. After he woke up from his nap today he went back into underwear and has only had one accident (both of us were outside when he did it, and he did come looking for me after the fact). Even just now he told Philip he had to peepee and he had barely wet his underwear but then he went on the potty! Tomorrow is another busy day, but then things settle down for a while until we go to the zoo on Thursday.
The good news is that I will have to make him new potty charts tomorrow because we are running out of space! I'm also planning on keeping a tube of mini M&Ms in my purse for when we are out and about!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Potty Training Days 1 and 1.5
Warning: This post may contain details of my son's life that you have no interest in! Feel free not to continue if potty training is not your thing!
We are on day two of full blown potty training! So far I have to say I am satisfied with the results. Yesterday I had no plans, so I decided to start our PT week off early. In the morning I put Ethan in big boy pants and we talked about the potty etc. About 10-20 minutes after I had him in underwear he had his first accident and it didn't even phase him. He was just walking around wet. Betsy had suggested focusing on keeping underwear dry just as much, if not more than going to peepee in the potty. As I changed Ethan I talked to him about keeping Wall-E dry and I even hung up a piece of paper to reward him for having dry underwear. Taking my friend Heather's advice I started taking him every 30-45 minutes weather he wanted to go or not. I would ask every 20 minutes or so if he was dry and that would earn him a small star sticker on the chart.
That worked until lunch time (I'd heard that meal time is hard) when he had another accident. The good thing about this accident was he yelled, "PeePee!" as soon as it happened. That gave me hope that he was aware of the fact that he had wet himself. I put him in a g-diaper for naptime and then after nap I put him back in under wear. Everything was going great until I was on the phone with a friend. Ethan said, "m&ms?" "Not unless you peepee in the potty." I replied. "PeePee?" Well, before I could get off the phone he had gone. That one was totally my fault! It taught me a good lesson though, and phone callers be warned: I may hang up on you with no warning if we are on the phone in the next couple of days/weeks.
After that last accident he went back into underwear and stayed dry for the next couple of hours. He then went into a diaper because Philip and I were going on a date night and Ethan was off to church. This morning we began again and at noon he has had no accidents! He hasn't asked to go, but he has kept his under wear dry and I consider that an accomplishment. Here are our award charts:
In addition to stickers he also gets three M&M's for number 1 in the potty and an "Easter Egg" for number 2 in the potty. He has yet to earn an Easter Egg, but he asks about them, so I'm sure it will happen eventually. I'll keep you all posted as we continue down this new journey!
We are on day two of full blown potty training! So far I have to say I am satisfied with the results. Yesterday I had no plans, so I decided to start our PT week off early. In the morning I put Ethan in big boy pants and we talked about the potty etc. About 10-20 minutes after I had him in underwear he had his first accident and it didn't even phase him. He was just walking around wet. Betsy had suggested focusing on keeping underwear dry just as much, if not more than going to peepee in the potty. As I changed Ethan I talked to him about keeping Wall-E dry and I even hung up a piece of paper to reward him for having dry underwear. Taking my friend Heather's advice I started taking him every 30-45 minutes weather he wanted to go or not. I would ask every 20 minutes or so if he was dry and that would earn him a small star sticker on the chart.
That worked until lunch time (I'd heard that meal time is hard) when he had another accident. The good thing about this accident was he yelled, "PeePee!" as soon as it happened. That gave me hope that he was aware of the fact that he had wet himself. I put him in a g-diaper for naptime and then after nap I put him back in under wear. Everything was going great until I was on the phone with a friend. Ethan said, "m&ms?" "Not unless you peepee in the potty." I replied. "PeePee?" Well, before I could get off the phone he had gone. That one was totally my fault! It taught me a good lesson though, and phone callers be warned: I may hang up on you with no warning if we are on the phone in the next couple of days/weeks.
After that last accident he went back into underwear and stayed dry for the next couple of hours. He then went into a diaper because Philip and I were going on a date night and Ethan was off to church. This morning we began again and at noon he has had no accidents! He hasn't asked to go, but he has kept his under wear dry and I consider that an accomplishment. Here are our award charts:
In addition to stickers he also gets three M&M's for number 1 in the potty and an "Easter Egg" for number 2 in the potty. He has yet to earn an Easter Egg, but he asks about them, so I'm sure it will happen eventually. I'll keep you all posted as we continue down this new journey!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Whew! Summer time is here!
So my co-op school has been over for quite a while and tomorrow is my last official day with KCS. Of course I'll be working this summer some and next year too (on time card) so last day seems final when really it is just transitional. Transitional or not I've had some time at home this week and it has been great.
Our summer really started last week because Ethan's last day of preschool was Thursday. But because he was running a bizarre and unexplained 103-4 fever most of the day, he didn't get to go. The fever had no accompanying symptoms and only lasted 24 hours. I did learn some interesting things about fevers in that time and also paid a visit to the pediatrician. Dr. Brice referred to Ethan's condition as "Spring Fever" which I thought was funny. Several people at church on Sunday said their 18mon. - 3yr olds also had the same thing in the last week or two. Philip stayed home with him on Friday so I could go to an important school meeting concerning our website (which I will be working on next year). Then we spent the weekend at company picnics, mission planning dinners, and ice cream get togethers! Also of course on Monday I sewed my now famous purse!
Tuesday we hung out at home for a bit while Ethan took an early nap and then we went to a puppet workshop at the library. For those of you out there who made Activity bags with me at MOPS or through Betsy's exchange, I'm going to be putting together instructions on making a finger puppet activity bag that I think our kids will really enjoy.
Wednesday we became members of the Knoxville Zoo and enjoyed Kid's Cove and a bird show with Betsy and her kids.
The hat he has on was made for him by his preschool teachers.
Here they are enjoying the turkey.
Today we also went with Betsy and her kiddos to the Bounce House and Ethan and the kids had a blast! If you've never been the Bounce House is a collection of inflatable toys in a huge gym like facility. Lots of fun! At first Ethan would only go down the slides (even the HUGE ones), but he didn't want to get into the plain bouncy room one. Well, I know his Mawmaw is renting a inflatable monster truck for his birthday so I brought him in with me and that made him really mad. He got out crying and went back to the slide. Wouldn't you know though that less than five minutes later he was in the bounce room jumping and laughing and spent most of the rest of our time there! He doesn't know how to jump yet so it is really funny to see him just run around and then fall down.
Another accomplishment in our house is that Ethan is progressing with his Catechism questions. Just watch:
I have to admit the the Jawdy's taught him the second question and that spurred me to go on to number three. We've also shortened the answers down to two words because, well that's about all he can linguistically handle right now. Feel free to quiz him the next time you see him!
We are still set to begin potty training next week so I'm sure I'll have lots to write about then.
If you want some free stuff (and you know I do) head on over to simplemom.net this week. She has a ton of free giveaways posted on her blog and the only thing you have to do to enter is leave a comment! She puts up new ones every couple of hours and the link above is to the first giveaway so you can move through them one by one. I've also added her to my list of links for "Moms and Families" on the right =>
Our summer really started last week because Ethan's last day of preschool was Thursday. But because he was running a bizarre and unexplained 103-4 fever most of the day, he didn't get to go. The fever had no accompanying symptoms and only lasted 24 hours. I did learn some interesting things about fevers in that time and also paid a visit to the pediatrician. Dr. Brice referred to Ethan's condition as "Spring Fever" which I thought was funny. Several people at church on Sunday said their 18mon. - 3yr olds also had the same thing in the last week or two. Philip stayed home with him on Friday so I could go to an important school meeting concerning our website (which I will be working on next year). Then we spent the weekend at company picnics, mission planning dinners, and ice cream get togethers! Also of course on Monday I sewed my now famous purse!
Tuesday we hung out at home for a bit while Ethan took an early nap and then we went to a puppet workshop at the library. For those of you out there who made Activity bags with me at MOPS or through Betsy's exchange, I'm going to be putting together instructions on making a finger puppet activity bag that I think our kids will really enjoy.
Wednesday we became members of the Knoxville Zoo and enjoyed Kid's Cove and a bird show with Betsy and her kids.
Here are pictures of Betsy's boys playing in the sand at Kids' Cove.
The hat he has on was made for him by his preschool teachers.
Here they are enjoying the turkey.
Today we also went with Betsy and her kiddos to the Bounce House and Ethan and the kids had a blast! If you've never been the Bounce House is a collection of inflatable toys in a huge gym like facility. Lots of fun! At first Ethan would only go down the slides (even the HUGE ones), but he didn't want to get into the plain bouncy room one. Well, I know his Mawmaw is renting a inflatable monster truck for his birthday so I brought him in with me and that made him really mad. He got out crying and went back to the slide. Wouldn't you know though that less than five minutes later he was in the bounce room jumping and laughing and spent most of the rest of our time there! He doesn't know how to jump yet so it is really funny to see him just run around and then fall down.
Another accomplishment in our house is that Ethan is progressing with his Catechism questions. Just watch:
We are still set to begin potty training next week so I'm sure I'll have lots to write about then.
If you want some free stuff (and you know I do) head on over to simplemom.net this week. She has a ton of free giveaways posted on her blog and the only thing you have to do to enter is leave a comment! She puts up new ones every couple of hours and the link above is to the first giveaway so you can move through them one by one. I've also added her to my list of links for "Moms and Families" on the right =>
Monday, May 25, 2009
My new purse!
I haven't done any sewing in quite a while, but with the beginning of summer (and a three day weekend) I was inspired to take on a project. My neighbor's daughter recently bought the cutest purse! I looked simple enough so I convinced Kristin that we could copy the pattern and make it our selves. Well, I won't say that I copied it exactly, but I am proud of the results!Here is the front:
Here is the back:
We went to JoAnn's together and I picked out this one fabric that I just kept coming back to over and over (the main panel on the back). After I had my main fabric I chose some fat quarters from the quilting department that complimented the one. This bag even has a liner with a pocket! I even sewed in a zipper for the pocket! Having never sewed a zipper before this was quite a feat. It even required a phone call to my Mawmaw. Not too bad though:
At least now I know what my zipper foot is and how to use it!I also uploaded some cute pictures of Ethan that Philip took to our shutterfly site. Here are two of my favorite (one is edited).
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother's Day and Potty Update
Well I hope all the moms out there had a great day! We celebrated our Mother's Day by having lunch at Bruster's. Yep that's right ice cream for lunch! If that sounds familiar or if this picture looks familiar check out last year's post.On the potty front Ethan is doing very well. He spent the night on Friday night at Curt and Sara's house so that Philip and I could go out and celebrate our anniversary (9 years on Monday). When he got home on Saturday he asked for the first time to peepee in the potty! From then on (about noon to 6pm) he was accident free. That does include a diapered nap and one slightly damp pair of underwear but even then he stopped himself and finished going in the potty. These signs really are encouraging as we are counting down to the big week!
I've posted some new pictures on flickr of our progressing garden, so if you are interested in that sort of thing go check them out!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Spring Cleaning
A while back I wrote about Simple Mom on my favorite things blog, and this week she has inspired me to get involved in some spring cleaning!
Here are some before and after shots of Day One's assignment: Clean All Flat Surfaces
Book shelf in sun room before:
Book shelf in sun room after:
Desk in library before:
Desk in library after:
Top of filing cabinet before:
Top of filing cabinet after:
I also cleaned off the kitchen counters, dining room table, the two coffee tables, the two speakers in the living room, and the speaker contraption at the top of the stairs. It took me two days to do it all, but it was well worth it! I hope that spring cleaning fever is contagious and this inspires you to do a little cleaning of your own!
Here are some before and after shots of Day One's assignment: Clean All Flat Surfaces
Book shelf in sun room before:
Book shelf in sun room after:
Desk in library before:
Desk in library after:
Top of filing cabinet before:
Top of filing cabinet after:
I also cleaned off the kitchen counters, dining room table, the two coffee tables, the two speakers in the living room, and the speaker contraption at the top of the stairs. It took me two days to do it all, but it was well worth it! I hope that spring cleaning fever is contagious and this inspires you to do a little cleaning of your own!Monday, May 4, 2009
Cooking with Mommy
So the last couple of times that Ethan has wanted to "Eat!" before dinner is ready I've had him pull over a chair to the counter so he can help me cook. I know one time he could just watch and play with measuring cups, but tonight he really helped me make french toast. He broke the eggs with a fork and then helped me flip the bread after it was in the custard mixture! I know that when we have more kids this might become more difficult but I really enjoy this sweet time to pass on my love of the kitchen.
Speaking of meals I have been inspired by simple mom to use my google calendar to plan my meals, and by my friend Betsy to plan two weeks of meals at once. We power cooked on Saturday morning and I'll be using some of those meals next week, but here is what I have on the docket for the next two weeks:
I do have a quandary and I wanted to know how other moms dealt with it. I have a weekly grocery budget that I go off of, but I struggle when I prepare a meal for an event. How do you balance your normal grocery needs, plus another meal for an event? Betsy brought up the good point that when you cook from your freezer that counts as a "free"meal. I also noticed that this week one of my planned meals may be bumped to next week because of the cook out. My real issue this week is that I power cooked (which used up my normal budget), and then I also have an event to bring a meal to. I hate to use my freezer meals the week after I make them because it doesn't feel like I've gotten ahead at all. Please let me know how you deal with potlucks, budgets and such!
Speaking of meals I have been inspired by simple mom to use my google calendar to plan my meals, and by my friend Betsy to plan two weeks of meals at once. We power cooked on Saturday morning and I'll be using some of those meals next week, but here is what I have on the docket for the next two weeks:
- Today: French Toast with fresh strawberries and sausage pie
- Tuesday: Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas (using leftover shredded cheddar)
- Wednesday: We might go to a cook out this day, but if not we are having Mean Soup
- Thursday: Manicotti (one pan for MOPS and one pan for Philip)
- Friday: Going out for our anniversary!
- Saturday: Pizza (movie night)
- Sunday: Leftover manicotti
- Monday: Herbed Chicken from our cooking day
- Tuesday: Chicken Risotto (inspired by Betsy)
- Wednesday: Ethan and I will eat out (Philip out of town)
- Thursday: Fish Packets with rice (just Ethan and I again)
- Friday: Hot dogs and Mac-n-cheese (Movie night)
I do have a quandary and I wanted to know how other moms dealt with it. I have a weekly grocery budget that I go off of, but I struggle when I prepare a meal for an event. How do you balance your normal grocery needs, plus another meal for an event? Betsy brought up the good point that when you cook from your freezer that counts as a "free"meal. I also noticed that this week one of my planned meals may be bumped to next week because of the cook out. My real issue this week is that I power cooked (which used up my normal budget), and then I also have an event to bring a meal to. I hate to use my freezer meals the week after I make them because it doesn't feel like I've gotten ahead at all. Please let me know how you deal with potlucks, budgets and such!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Happenings.....
As I am winding down what may have been the busiest 8 months of my life, I am looking forward to being able to post here more often!
The past few weeks Ethan's vocabulary and verbal skills have grown by leaps and bounds. He went from using possessives (Mommy's car) to now putting together other two and even three word phrases (More milk please). There is still a good size pause between milk and please but it is super cute. He is also calling Yoda and Abbey (our neighbor) by their recognizable names.
While you await my new posts please go and check out the pictures of the gardens that my wonderful husband built for me! I will take new pictures every week so that you can see the plants grow and change!
I will also be adding pictures on our Shutterfly site.
The past few weeks Ethan's vocabulary and verbal skills have grown by leaps and bounds. He went from using possessives (Mommy's car) to now putting together other two and even three word phrases (More milk please). There is still a good size pause between milk and please but it is super cute. He is also calling Yoda and Abbey (our neighbor) by their recognizable names.
While you await my new posts please go and check out the pictures of the gardens that my wonderful husband built for me! I will take new pictures every week so that you can see the plants grow and change!
I will also be adding pictures on our Shutterfly site.
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