Ready. Set. Go!

We're leaving in a few hours for our road trip. It's been changed so many times that this whole thing is driving my husband crazy (even though he's not going. oh well, he'll get over it). So instead of Virginia and North Carolina, we're heading to the beach! Unfortunately, it's not Miami. We're heading to Panama City, Florida. I'll be taking a lot of pictures and can't wait to share about our adventure.

I won't have computer access, but until then God Bless and I'll see you in about a week!

So Much to Do, So Little Time

Why am I still up at almost 1 a.m.? Because we're headed on a road trip at the last second. Well, we've actually been planning to do this trip for over a month but because of money and rising/falling gas prices, it's been off again and on again. So now we are back on at the very last moment. It's me, the kids, my mom and two sisters. Bart will be home by himself. I'm sure he'll miss us a little, but deep down there's some relief. I've got so much to do. I've got to get myself and two kids packed; take my husband to work at 5 a.m. so I can use the car to run errands; bake him a lasagna so he won't eat out every night that we're gone; and then pick him up. Who knows what else in between there that needs to be done. I've got a load of laundry drying right now.

The trip was suppose to start in Georgia and end up all the way in Canada to see a childhood friend play in the Canadian Football league (go Charles Thomas of the Hamilton Tigers!). Then it was shortened to going to visit family in New York. Now the trip is cut in half with us visiting family in Virginia and a quick stop in North Carolina to visit my in-laws for a day so they can see their grand-babies. These blasted gas prices are ridiculous! I remember the $0.99 days where we would drive anywhere and everywhere. Oh well, I'm just happy we get to go somewhere...even though it's not Miami (keep your fingers crossed!).

My silly husband plans on having some type of party while we're gone. He plans on inviting all these people over, to do what, I don't know. But he plans to clean the house real nice. Whatever it takes for him to clean up around here is fine by me. But I doubt it will happen. Now if our pool was working--watch out! I'm sure the neighbors would hate us or call the cops on him for all the noise. I hope he does have company. He needs it. He came from a small town, where everyone knows everyone. Moving to Georgia has been hard, and since we moved to the new house, he doesn't know anyone on this side of town. So I really hope his friends will make the long drive over here, visit, behave and have a good time.

Potty Update: Everything is GREAT! I hate to say things like that because it seems to come back and bite you in the butt, but Dylan is doing awesome! The accidents are getting fewer and further apart. He let's you know when he needs to go. We've been to the park and other places and he let's us know when he has to go. I still ask him and take him when we arrive or leave a place. It's just so cool. When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he normally wakes up dry and goes straight to the bathroom. He's been in the habit of waking in the middle of the night to get into our bed. I take him to the potty, he does his thing, and then I put him pack to bed where he usually stays (not all the time). The crazy thing is he's starting to pee standing up! Now, I don't know at what age this is supposed to happen, but to see a two and half year old do that just surprises me. I had to let everyone know as soon as I saw it. Crazy. I guess he's trying to be like his daddy, or he just found a new trick.

I am wondering how he'll do on the trip. I've got my On The Go Potty ready to take with us. I've got pull-ups, but I don't like to use them during the day because he knows he can just pee without telling me and we're trying to move away from that. I think he'll do okay because we'll be traveling at night and he'll be sleeping (with a pull-up on for safety). I hope we won't have too many accidents. I'm optimistic and realistic.

Dude! I've gotta go to bed.

You're Not Alone

I have to remind myself that I'm Not Alone. As a stay-at-home mom, sometimes it just feels like...your kids are the only kids out there that act like this; no one else is going through what you're going through; and if you say something to anyone about how you feel than the illusion of being perfect is lost. Well, that's how I feel sometimes. It's good to have a friend who you can call late at night crying just because you've reached your breaking point and don't know if you're a good mom, bad mom or just plain screwy.

I've had a few trying days with Dylan, the two and half year old. Actually, he just went to bed at 11:30 p.m. Why so late? I've been trying to get him to bed since 9 p.m.! It's just been a battle. I finally hit that emotional wall of not knowing if what I was doing was causing him to think that I didn't care for him. All he wanted to do was go to my bed. I would put him back in his bed and 30 seconds later he was making a break for my room like an escaped prisoner heading for the hills. I have a feeling that part of this is jealousy over his little brother. From his perspective, Devin is always in mommy's bed. He even tells me when it's time to go take a nap or for bed that Devin needs to go in his crib. He doesn't understand that Devin does sleep in his crib all night, but I have to nurse him first and usually wait until both are asleep before I put him in the crib. Then when he wakes up at 6 a.m., I take him to my bed to nurse him and we both fall back to sleep. So when Dylan wakes up, everyone is mommy's bed and he's missing out on all the fun. Plus, Devin does nap with me only because I am nursing him and it's easier that way.

Does any of that make sense? This is only part of my battles lately, but this is what pushed me to the edge. I was struggling with the idea that maybe with all the disciplining, the short fuse I've had lately, and the attention that I give to Devin that maybe Dylan didn't think I loved him. The way he would cry after I put him to bed and left the room sure made me feel that way. All of those crazy thoughts caused me to make that tearful phone call to my friend while Dylan and I sat on the couch in the dark. You never know if you should make that kind of a call. I debated with myself for a while. But I remembered that she made a call to me like that a long, long, long time ago. So I knew that she would be receptive and supportive. And she was that and more.

It's good to have a friend who's going through maybe not the exact same thing as you but is able to take her life experiences to show you that you're not alone in this thing. We're both stay-at-home moms with two young kids, and she was able to relate to everything that I was telling her. She didn't have all the answers. And who does? But she gave me sound, godly advice. The most important thing that she gave me was a non-judgemental, sympathetic ear to let me know that I'm the best mother for these two boys and that I'm not alone in this daily struggle of raising kids.

I just want to tell her, "Thanks." I feel a lot better and am thankful that I have her to call on at all (reasonable) hours of the night. Everyone needs that one friend that they can call on for help. What? You say you don't have that kind of friend. Yes, you do. Just talk to God. Does that sound super religious. Oh well, it's true. Talk it out to Him and He'll give you the answer. And pray for a friend who you'll be able to lean on when you need to. He'll send you one for sure. But remember: in order to get friends, you have to be a friend.

Night!

Another Day, Another Lesson

As a stay-at-home mom, I know that it is important to teach and train your child. To me that means getting them out into some fresh air to run around and let loose some energy, exploring leaves, sticks and bugs. I don't want my kids to be inside all the time, glued to the TV. But I've run into a problem with Dylan. He's starting to only want to be inside. Before we've even gotten to the end of the driveway, he's insisting on going home and I have to coax him to come down.
While we're walking up and down the street, he's looking all around him, looking for something that might be creeping up to him. I feel like part of his apprehension is my fault. The few times we've been out lately I've timed it wrong to where we are outside with very LOUD vehicles. He doesn't like this one bit. Yesterday we were out when the garbage truck came by. Talk about loud and talk about a little child stuck to my leg. Today we were out when this huge, loud school bus drove by. Now this isn't just the normal school bus. Somehow it is super loud and super fast. I'm sure it's just a normal bus and making normal noise, but to my little two and a half year old, all these things are freight trains coming right at him. What is this bus doing driving around anyway?! I guess it's practice or something, but give everyone in the neighborhood a break already!


In my attempts to get him to not be so scared, I try to have him wave at the drivers and to reassure him that everything is okay, but it falls on deaf ears. So maybe for the next few days, I should take note of when the bus and garbage trucks come through the neighborhood that way we can avoid these disturbances and enjoy some fresh air. Dylan used to bug us so much to go outside, but now he usually tells me "no" when I ask him if he wants to go outside. That's kind of sad. I hope this phase doesn't last too long.




But that's not the only loud noises he doesn't like. He's always telling me to turn my music down or whatever I'm watching on TV. I wonder if he's sensitive to loud noises, if he's just going through a phase, or if he's just doing it because I'm watching/listening to something that he doesn't want to watch/listen to, which I wouldn't put past him.


Since we are home, I want to use our time wisely by teaching them (well, mostly Dylan for now) some school lessons. He knows his ABC's, I'm trying to teach him to distinguish the upper and lower case letters, he can count confidently to 10, is working on counting to 20, and knows his shapes and colors pretty well. I don't have any plans on homeschooling our kids. My hearts desire is to send them to a Montessori type school or a Christian private school. Bart wants to send them to public school (that's a completely different argument that I don't want to go into now). But I have a few years to save and plan for their education. What can I do for them right now? That's what I'm working on. I'm looking for something that will get their minds going and will eventually give them a head start when they start school. I'm going to start suffering the Web for something that looks like it produces results and allows the kids to have fun at the same time. Hopefully by next week I'll have something lined up and can start implementing some new things to get their minds going.


Does anyone out there have any suggestions? Thanks

Getting There...

We are approaching day five with only two potty accidents! Praise God! I'm so happy and proud of my little guy. He runs to the potty without any assistance and does his business. The only problem is that he insist on taking his pants and underwear all the way off. That drives me crazy. He's always been like that. Even when changing his diaper as a little guy, he would always take his pants off even though I could change him without doing that. So I still have to be in the bathroom with him to make sure he gets his underwear on right, though I am trying to teach him how to put it on properly. We are almost there to being fully potty trained! No one could have told me 10 or even 5 years ago that I would ever get this excited about someone going to the bathroom.

What a boring day of doing nothing. We only have one car right now, which really limits our outings. I've spent the day thus far washing most of the dishes and making homemade baby food for Devin. When I started feeding Dylan solids, I found this great site called Wholesome Baby Food. This site teaches you everything that you need to know if you ever thought of making food for your little one. I love to make Devin food. It saves money, I know that what he is eating is healthy, and it's made with the highest standards-mine! The only problem is that my laziness gets in the way to the point where I let the food that I buy spoil and go bad. So today I resolved to do some cooking because I'm tired of being wasteful. I had baked a few sweet potatoes a days ago. How lazy am I? They were in the fridge still wrapped up in foil and sitting on the baking sheet from the oven. I took all the fruit that I had bought for Dev, cooked them, cut them up, pureed them and put all the food in ice trays in the freezer for later. Plus, I cleaned up most of the kitchen. Hey, I'm not Super Woman; I'm just happy with what I've accomplished already.

A friend of mine told me today that she and her family are moving to another state. How exciting and scary at the same time. Scary to me because of the unknown and having to start all over again. To some that's not scary at all, but welcomed. I've moved to different cities within the same state. I went to college out of state and even had a house there. But I always knew I would return to Georgia. I even dragged my husband away from his family and friends to live here. I don't know how long I can keep Bart here though. He's always talking about moving somewhere, anywhere but here. As a truck driver, he's had the opportunity to travel and see different areas. He's been saying for at least a year that he wants to move to Iowa. That's doubtful in my mind. Not because of the recent flooding (please keep those people in your prayers), but because it's nowhere near the beach! Is that silly? Well, that's what I want. I told him that we could move if he could gaurantee me, in writing, about two weeks in Miami or somewhere on the beach along the Gulf Coast. In fact anywhere that there's clear water, sand, sun and it's tropical. So far all this talk about moving is just that-talk. But who knows....

We have recently moved to a house of our "own." We were living in my parents finished basement for a number of years to save some money. Needless to say that didn't happen according to plans. We moved this Mother's Day to our own place. But is it really ours? It's actually the house that I grew up in as a kid. My parents still own it and have been using it as a rental property all these years. Since no one has been living here for months, they agreed to let us moving in. I'm sure mostly to get their house back from the ever growing toy collection and the increasing noise level of my loud children. ;>

Moving here was scary enough for me. Ever since I had Dylan, we had been living with my parents and two sisters (plus a cat and a countless number of dogs). I've had a steady support system in place for the past three years. If I needed a break, someone was there. If I needed help changing a diaper, someone was there. If I needed an extra set of eyes, there were more than enough. I wasn't sure if we moved if I would be able to handle these two kids on my own. Well, we're still standing strong. I just need to learn to have confidence in myself.

And that statement goes towards every area of my life, not just in dealing and raising my kids. I need to have confidence that with God's help, I can do anything. He's given me so many abilities. I just let doubt and fear enter into my mind too often. I really have to work on that. I need to trust in myself and in God. That's my little pep talk for today!

Happy Father's Day

I hope everyone enjoyed Father's Day and spent it with their love ones. We had an enjoyable time together, with the kids and then my family. It started out with Dylan waking up early. What surprised me was Bart actually got up and took D to the bathroom. I thought he was just going to roll over and let me handle it. My Father's Day gift to him other than a DVD and card was to not ask him to finish cleaning up the kitchen. We cleaned out the fridge on Saturday and the sink was overflowing with pots, pans, and everything else. He cleaned up most of it, but there was still so much to do. He promised he would finish the dishes and even chased me out when he thought I was going to wash them. He got caught up playing his stupid X-Box. So now I'm left to clean up this huge mess. This is the second time he's burned me on this very same issue. When will I learn?


Our goal was to go to church and then later meet up with my mom, dad and two sisters at the Chattahoochee River for a cookout. Unfortunately, there was too much to do to get everyone ready to make it to church on time. I guess I should have prepared the night before, but I didn't. I felt bad because there aren't many opportunities for Bart to go to church because of his job. I've been going by myself to a new church since we moved because it is closer to home, and I hate going by myself. Oh well. I know that there will be other chances. We just had a lazy morning of lying in bed talking while the kids played around us. We talked about everything like family, friends, work, kids, the right and/or wrong way to discipline, etc. That's my internal struggle. I personally think we need to improve on how we handle Dylan. He's very high energy and I just think that there has to be a better way to teach him right and wrong and what is expected of him. I need a book or something to give me a revelation of how to raise him up right without breaking his spirit and how to channel him energy.

Once Devin fell asleep on me later in the day, Dylan and Bart left the room to watch TV. I noticed that it was very quiet in the house. Too quiet. Dylan hadn't come to bother me about getting something to drink or having to go to the potty (he does that even though his dad is right there). I had to find out what those two were doing. I found them both passed out on the couch. Too sweet! What a great way to spend part of your Father's Day cuddled up with your son. There will come a point in time when Dylan will be too old for this, so we need to enjoy it while we can.

We finally made our way to the Chattahoochee River. Last time I was there, in 2007, I was pregnant with Devin and Dylan had a great time playing in the water. This time was no different. He had a great time throwing the football, splashing and falling into the water. Devin...not so much.

The day ended on a great note with me having misplaced the house keys. Yay, Ty! I had taken the keys off the ring so I could run into the house while Bart and the kids were in the van. I know in my knower that I brought them back into the van but after that who knows what happened to them. I could tell Bart wasn't too happy. It was already past his bedtime and he was getting antsy. We got into the house somehow, but still can't find the keys.

I've had had the worse mommy brain after Devin was born. It physically hurts to try to remember why I came into a room and what I was looking for in the first place. I need to do some mental exercises to help me. I forget what I am saying in the middle of a sentence. What is especially frustrating is forgetting where I put things. Actually, it's all extremely frustrating. Have you ever walked into a room for a certain purpose and when you get there, you can't remember why you're there? Every now and then I'm sure, but I do it too frequently. I've got to write a list when I go to the store even if it's for three things!

Gotta go. Not feeling myself today. Hope I'm not sick. No one wants to come and take care of me and the kids. My sisters only live about 40 minutes away. They act like I live two states away.

Next time I'm going to try to talk about getting organized (more like my struggle to get there).

Boy, Are My feet Tired

Today I decided to get the boys out of the house for a few hours. Since we only have one car, that means we are walking wherever we want to go. It was a beautiful day in Atlanta, in the mid 80's and with big fluffy, white clouds dominating the sky. What a perfect day to go for a 6 mile walk to and from the playground. Or so you would think.

To start off, trying to get the 3 of us ready at the same time, plus diaper bag and snacks, takes forever. The kicker is as I'm struggling to get everything done, Devin, the 9-month-old is crawling pitifully behind me crying his little head off as I go from room to room. All he wants is for me to hold him. The nano-second that I pick him up, he stops crying and then starts up again when I put him down so I can get dressed or do whatever needs to be done. At times I just want to give up and stay in the house. I don't think Dylan would even care because he's glued to the TV.

When we finally do leave, I'm already hot and already perspiring a bit. I've got Devin strapped to my hip using a homemade sling while Dylan sits in the double stroller. I barely make it up the first and steepest hill in our neighborhood without passing out or having my heart explode in my chest! I'm drenched in sweat and it's not even 10 a.m.! I wanted to call my sister while we walked, but I could barely breathe let alone hold a conversation with someone. Dylan kept talking to me and wanting a response. I had to beg him to stop. "Mommy can't talk right now, son. Please." Huff-puff.

I must admit again that we stopped on the side of the road to use the potty because he said that he had to go. We weren't near any gas stations or stores. We pulled off to the side, and I tried to get him to use the On The Go Potty. No deal. He was too distracted by the pine needles and all the loud trucks passing by. We were behind a tree in hopes of giving us a buffer, but that didn't work. My husband called me a "redneck" for letting him do that. But what am I suppose to do? Anyone out there have any suggestions? We always use the potty before we leave the house, but he has a small bladder. I don't want to use pull-ups because I'm trying to train him right. I don't know...Looking for ideas.

By the time we got to the playground, I was pouring sweat. We stopped in the bathroom first. One look in the mirror caused me to wonder what people driving past must of thought when they saw me. I looked like I had run a marathon. My face was flushed, hair soaked and sweat just everywhere. A wet paper towel does wonders.

Sometimes I wonder why we even go to the park. All Dylan seems to want to do is play with the wood chips and bury his cars in the wood chips. This time I didn't let him play with the cars. I told him we came to the park to use the slides and run around. He kind of latched onto this older boy and followed him around the whole time the boy and his family were there. That meant that he climbed on things that I didn't think he was old enough to do. Boy did he prove me wrong! He climbed the highest rock wall, climbed some other crazy contraption that he could have fallen through, and tried to slide down a pole like a firefighter. Trust me, Devin and I were there the whole time lending a helping hand and saying a little prayer. A lady with an older girl made a comment, "He's all boy, isn't he?" Yes he is. Her daughter was timid and scared when it came to going down the big slides and doing other things on the playground. Dylan was full force. Not to say that some days (like when we went to the pool the last time) he's just not feeling it. But every kid is different. I wonder if (when) we have our girl will she be a princess or follow after her brothers?

What are the rules to the playground? Dylan and the older boy were trying to climb on the same thing at the same time. I told him that he needs to take turns, while the boys' grandmother said that since he was bigger he needed to help the little ones and to let Dylan go first. Now we could have stood there and had a friendly argument, but then no one would be able to play until we figured it out. I didn't want anyone's authority to be challenged, you know? So who was right? The person who corrected their child first, which was grandma? Should I have just smiled and had Dylan say "thank you" and if it happened again, I could have jumped in first and taught him to take turns? Now that I've had time to think about it, I think that's what I should've done. I'll try to remember for the next time. Or is there a better solution? The boy was nice about it and even let Dylan go in front of him another time without any prompting from his grandma. Good kid.

After getting Dylan to run around some more and seeing that he was losing interest, we headed home. We had an eventful and pretty good time out. Treated ourselves to Wendy's for lunch. Of course, my 2 stinkers fell asleep on the way home. I was trying to devise a plan to quietly get them into the house without waking them up. They foiled those plans when I stopped at the mailbox. Both of them were wide awake and ready to go again. As much as I hate letting Dylan watch too much TV, I was too tired to do anything. I turned PBS on just so I could catch a break. I eventually got down on the floor while Dylan watched Word World and Devin was crawling around and playing in the toy corner. I closed my eyes for just a moment. Refreshing, but I should have done it as soon as the show started because I waited until it was almost over. Dylan woke me up so he could watch something else. That's when I got up and finally turned it off. Let's play something!

I wonder: do you think the pancakes for breakfast, Wendy's for lunch, and Papa John's pizza with garlic dipping sauce that we had for dinner undid all those 6 miles that I walked today? I'm hoping that at least all that walking will undo the junk I did today. Kind of balance it all out. I did have a few pieces of apple. Yay me! I thought about making a salad before the pizza, but I was too tired to wash and cut the lettuce, wishing that I had brought a bag of pre-mixed stuff. Oh well, there's always tomorrow to try to eat healthier. Trust me. At 30-years-old, I've come a long way, baby, in regards to my eating habits. I'm one of the pickiest eaters you'd ever meet. I'm trying to do right with my kids. But that's another issue for another night.

What a Day...

I'm so glad that this day is over. I feel so defeated. The potty is getting to me. Right after I said Dylan was doing great on the potty, today happens. Too many accidents to count. After the last one, I just sent him to bed. While I was getting him ready for bed, he said he had to go to the potty. He just peed on the floor less than 10 minutes ago! Do I believe him or take this as one of his stall tactics? I angrily put him on the potty thinking the whole time that he's just trying to get out of going to bed. He surprises me and does his business. I was happy but beat down. He still had me cheer for him by making me lift up my hands, make our funny noises, yell "Yay! Pee pee on the potty!" and give each other high-fives.

I know that he'll have accidents until we really get it down. He probably went more on the potty than he had accidents. We even got to use Kalencom POTETTE - On the Go Potty(I talked about it the other day) while we were outside. I just feel that he knows, knows, knows what to do. Am I expecting too much from a 2 1/2-year-old? Well tomorrow is a new day....

We might walk to the park tomorrow if it's a nice day again. It wasn't too hot today because it rained last night. We didn't go to the park because I was afraid it would be too wet, so we just rode his tricycle up and down the street. When I say "we might walk to the park," I really mean I walk while pushing them in a double stroller about 6 miles round trip up and down hills. Good exercise for me. We have a good time and stop at Wendy's on the way home for lunch. We did it for the first time last week. I didn't think I could do it, and was proud of myself when it was all over. Dylan did not like all the noisy traffic. He kept saying he wanted to go home. I finally told him to cover his ears and that seemed to calm him down. Don't worry, there was a sidewalk the whole way there. Oh, that trip was when I realized that I needed the travel potty. We weren't anywhere near a store when he said he had to go. What was I supposed to do? He had underwear on so I couldn't let him wet himself. My confession is: I let him pee in the bushes while traffic was speeding by us. What a sight the morning traffic received!! I tried to block everyone's view, but I'm sure they saw his lil bum.



What's Dev Dev up to, you ask? Just going about discovering his world. He's up with me right now because he took a late nap when we went for a walk.

Ahh. I'm feeling a little better after getting all this out. The tightness in my chest is relaxing its grip. I know tomorrow will be a better day. How do I know? Because I'm gonna pray really, really hard for it, and I know that God answers my prayers.

Uh-oh. Gotta go. Just found out someone left me a nice surprise in his diaper and he needs to go to bed. Good Night!

P.S. I'm not doing the dishes tonight! They'll be there in the morning and will still get done. I'm gonna sit on the couch with a chocolate pudding cup, turn on the TV and decompress.

Mexican Delight Tonight

We had yummy Mexican themed dinner tonight. I made BBQ Chicken Quesidillas, Southwest rice from Birds Eye, and Creamy Four Cheese rice from Rice A Roni (not really Mexican but I just love the taste). It was D-licious! Dylan isn't really a picky eater. It's just that his eating habits change with the wind. One day he loves mashed potatoes, the next day he wants nothing to do with them. So when he ate one of the quesidillas, I was elated when he asked for another one, more rice and more corn.

Well, his brilliant father, my genius husband who loves hot sauce on everything, thought it would be a great idea to let Dylan try some on his dilla that was spiced up. I asked him not to. I told him not to. I warned him not to. Does he listen? Of course not. Dylan takes one bite. Nothing happens at first, but then he starts screwing his face up and whining. Smart move dad. After he drinks some juice, do you think we could get him anywhere near a dilla again? Heck no! D wanted nothing to do with them, no matter how much we encouraged, bribed, and begged. Dylan was done.

I was so mad at him! He kept looking at me from the corner of his eye trying to see how I was reacting. I didn't even want to talk to him any more, much less pretend that I cared how his day went (I asked anyway). He tried to argue that this being Dylan who knows if he really wanted more or if he was done for the night. I said he probably wanted more since he took a bite out of that one. Bart wants to win the argument only to make himself feel better for tricking D in to eating hot sauce.

All I can do is shake my head in wonderment and ask, "What were you thinking?"

Potty Time Is Fun Time!

I have found one of the greatest inventions ever thanks to Elisabeth Hasselbeck of ABC's "The View"--Kalencom POTETTE - On the Go Potty. I don't watch the show that often, but I'm glad I caught their Hot Topics in order to see her show this travel size potty. Like her, I'm potty training Dylan. I've had to take his big, bulky potty with us on walks and to the park. No fun. This On the Go Potty is soooo cool. It folds into a compact size, comes with 3 disposable liners, and its very own travel bag! I know, exciting stuff.



I ordered mine from Amazon (mostly because they had different colors. I got green and blue) and received it this week. I couldn't wait to try it out. So today we went for a walk around the neighborhood. I would ask him periodically if he had to go. Of course his answer was always, "No thank you. No go potty." When we finally get home almost an hour later, I see him grabbing himself--the universal sign that he's gotta go. By the time I get it out, he's already leaking. That didn't stop me from putting him on. And we still had some success! I love this On the Go Potty! It is so lightweight, folds and unfolds easily, and just so handy to have. One of the greatest inventions; right up there with the invention of the wheel. Oh, you don't have to order extra bags with the liners. I saw someone suggest using grocery bags and putting cut up sanitary pads in the bottom to soak up the mess. Great idea and saves money!

This potty training thing is definitely an experience. We've been working on it for a while and he's doing so well (minus the above incident). At first he would let me know when he had to poop. But he would go through phases of being diligent in telling me and then slack off. Also, with having a new baby, it was hard for me to stay on top of him going.

Once we moved to a house with laminate floors, I thought about just putting underwear on him and seeing what would happen. But before I decided to do something crazy like that and let him pee all over the place, I did a little research. I found this awesome web site, Potty Training Concepts, that told me how to potty train in one day. I didn't follow all of their advice completely, like buying a doll and its own potty or training pants, only because I knew that Dylan knew what he was supposed to do and didn't need a doll to show him how to do it. So I put some whitey-tighties on him and just let him run around the house like that. We had some issues the first day (like him peeing in my bed), but by the end of the day, we could see a noticeable difference. Bart thought I was crazy especial after he found out Dylan wet our bed. But now that he sees it working, he's very proud. He's gotta learn to trust me on some things. We're doing pretty well with that web sites help. He still has accidents ever now and then (like just now because he's waiting too long before saying something!!), but for the most part he tells me when he's gotta go. I don't like to use pullups with him except when he goes to sleep or on long car rides (though I may stop doing that now that I have On the Go Potty). I found that he would tell me at first that he had to go, but once he realized they were pullups, then he would just wet himself.

The thing that drives me crazy about Dylan is that he knows when he says, "Pooh pooh on the potty," I move. So if he's in time-out, in bed for nap/bedtime or doing something that he doesn't want to be doing, he says, "Pooh pooh on the potty." If I don't respond, there's always the chance that he'll wet or pooh on himself, which he has done in the past. Nothing worse than finding your son's hands covered in pooh after he's told you he had to go and you didn't believe him. I'm so tired of him crying "Wolf." Anyone out there got any suggestions to get him to stop? I'm open. I figured out that I can take him before nap/bedtime and before we get in the car. But when he's in time-out or whatever, he says it over and over again. I have started taking out of time-out letting him sit on the potty and then putting him right back in. Hopefully he'll figure out that it's useless to do that and will stop.

The Beginning

Well, I've finally did it. I created a blog. Never thought I would. I honestly thought they were silly and when would I ever find time to write on it? But then I found myself texting or wanting to text every little obscure thought to my older sister and one of my best girlfriends. So instead of wasting their text messages and wanting a forum to post pictures of the kids for grandparents to check out whenever, I decided to create this so I could just tell anyone out there my thoughts of staying home with 2 boys, our adventures in potty training, share pictures, and to just to be able to "talk." So I hope you enjoy reading about our days.

Here's an introduction of the players:

Bart - devoted husband from North Carolina. He bleeds Duke Blue, so I'm a Duke fan by default. Didn't go to school there, but as a rule of living in NC, you have to choose between Carolina and Duke (maybe NC State or Wake Forest). He's a truck driver. We've been married for 6 years now and been together for almost 9 years total! How time flies.

Dylan - our oldest son at 2 and a half. He's fun, very energetic, learning to explore the world, demanding some times, going through potty training (you'll hear a lot about that), and just a really loving little guy. He says "hi" to everyone he sees. He's a little jealous of his baby brother (steals his pacies and climbs into the crib), but can be very protective also.

Devin - is 9 months. He was our surprise baby. What a wonderful surprise. He's more serious. Bart calls some name from the "Godfather" movie. Micheal Corleone. He's very clingy to me. He always has to be touching me unless he's out exploring the room and toys, but he comes back or lies there pitifully crying on the floor until I pick him up.

Ty - me, the stay-at-home mom. Never thought I'd be one, but here I am! Born and raised in Georgia. I love to travel and go to the beach. I don't mean Myrtle Beach type of water. I love the Gulf Coast, Miami and the Caribbean. Crystal clear and beautiful. (Don't get mad at me Myrtle Beach lovers. I just have my own preferences). I told a younger cousin of mine, who I love, adore and admire, that all I want to do is sit on the beach. She said that I need to get out and explore other parts of the world. I completely disagree. I'd be a beach bum if I could get away with it. Unfortunately, my fair skinned husband hates the beach and the sun and the heat. My dreams of living in Miami or on an island are quickly fading. I'll still hold out hope....

Here's my first thought: I hate it when my son watches "Dragon Tails" on PBS. I used to get away with him not watching it just by skipping the channel when it came on. Somehow he watched it and now likes it a lot. Why do I hate (strong word, but used correctly here) this show so much? Those irritating voices. Nothing to do with the content or the fact that they are dragons. Two of the dragon voices make me cringe, makes my skin crawl. Yet I let him watch it because he likes the show.

Now I know there is a debate about letting kids watch too much TV. Dylan is only 2 1/2. I do let him watch TV. But I really try to limit his time in front of the tube. He has shows that he likes to watch and I let him, but then I cut it off and we play or I change to something I want to watch and he plays. I am a little disheartened when I see our 9-month-old standing in front of it.

I found that we had been staying inside too much. I think that was why Dylan was waking up in the middle of the night (3-4 am!) and crawling into the bed with us! That was very frustrating. He would toss and turn, keeping us up or waking his little brother up. He'd eventual fall asleep after ruining everyone else's. Then he had a really hard time going to sleep at nap and bed time. I figured that it was because we had been staying inside and not doing too much. It's getting too hot to be outside, but I'm trying to get him out early in the day. It seems to be working. For the past 2 nights he's slept through the night!

Yesterday we took him outside to ride his tricycle for the first time. We've had the bike since January and got stuck putting it together. We said we would finish it the next day. Six months later, I finally finished it yesterday. We had been using the wrong tool. Dylan didn't like putting his feet on the peddles too much and pushed with his feet, which looked really uncomfortable. A funny sight. We tapped it and all you can hear us saying over and over again is "Put your feet on the peddles." He kind of got it. We just had to remember that this was his first time. Then much later that night, we went to the Mountain View Aquatic Center for family swim. Bart held Dylan the whole time, and he cried/whined 90% of the time. Devin just kind of hung out with me and eventually fell asleep on my shoulder. He got to meet a 10-month-old little Asian baby boy. He was too cute! That little guy was happy and splashing. I guess Devin was just tired. Dylan used to be my fearless little guy in the pool. We could throw him up in the air or he would jump off the side into our arms. These last few times he's been kind of scared. But he's supposed to be my little water buddy. Dylan means "son of the sea." As much as I love the pool and the ocean, I hope he gets over this because I love taking him swimming and to the beach.

After all of that we went to Wendy's to get some ice cream. It was a good day.

How's that for my first post?