Keepin it Real

My blogging (and occasional real life) buddy, Sheena, did a whole week of keepin it real. It was hilariously refreshing and honest. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with being that honest. I think I'm just too embarrassed about my imperfections. In an effort to be less Type A in my parenting (since I fear I am completely screwing up my toddler), I am going to attempt to let the facade slip a bit.
As you know, if you read this blog, I have been trying to potty train Weston in the last 10 days. Of those 10 days he has pooped in the toilet ONE time. The other FIVE times he has pooped in his pants. It is disgusting and I have to confess I have tried putting him in time out for pooping in his pants. Finally I decided I was being too controlling about the whole thing, so today I am just letting him do his thing. I'm not reminding him to go potty (except before his nap) and Ian gave me permission to offer him ANYTHING as a reward for pooping in the toilet. So far, no dice, but I'm still crossing my fingers that I will eventually hit on the right inspiration (aka reward) for him.

I think of myself as somewhat of a neat freak. This coincides with the whole Type A thing I have going. Anyway, the truth is, my house is really not all that clean, it's just tidy most of the time. I can't remember the last time I mopped the bathrooms.

I am absolutely NOT a germaphobe. I don't care if people drink out of my cup and I don't obsessively use hand sanitizer. I actually think hand sanitizer is gross because it smells weird and makes my hands taste gross (if for some reason I have to lick my fingers).

I LOVE to chew ice. I don't own ice trays though because I am an ice snob. I only really like the little crushed pellet ice. I buy a 1o pound bag of it at Sonic for $1.59 every few days in the summer.

I HATE the dentist. I know most people hate the dentist, but here's the kicker. We pay for dental insurance through Ian's work, but I haven't been to the dentist in almost 2 years. Simply because I don't want to know how many cavities I have or get them filled or be told for the umpteenth time I need my wisdom teeth out. I have had "make a dentist appointment" on my list of things to do every day for the last week and still I haven't actually made the call.

I can polish off an entire thing of Chewy Chips Ahoy by myself in the course of 24 hours or less.

I am pretty positive I look HOT in a swim cap and goggles. I have never actually seen myself in said accessories, but I can't imagine they look that bad on me. Speaking of swim caps and goggles. Weston insisted on trying them on today when he found them on the couch after my swimming workout this morning. It was hilarious. Apparently he thought the cap was a football helmet.

I often will leave Davin in his crib for up to an hour in the mornings as long as he isn't crying. Poor kid has to learn early on to entertain himself. Davin is all of a sudden such a big boy. He is almost sitting up on his own and has started rolling over from his back to his tummy. Once he gets to his tummy he's not real happy about it, but he seems to like the rolling part. I am trying to not neglect him as much now that he's not a little infant lump anymore. It's a constant change accommodating 2 little ones. Hopefully I can make it work and I won't mess them up too badly.
Look out for future "keepin it real" posts from yours truly.

Field Trip

Well, my week of potty training is over, but my potty training experience is far from over. Weston overall did really great with learning to use the potty this past week. He has had at least one accident every single day, but I figure eventually he will have fewer and fewer. I was so excited because on Friday he finally pooped in the toilet! Hurrah! Before that he had only pooped once and it was in his pants. I was unbelievably proud. We went out for ice-cream to celebrate on Friday night. The joy was short lived though when he pooped in his pants again on Saturday AND Sunday mornings. Heavy sigh. We still have a long way to go. We have resumed our outing schedule and he has not had an accident while we have been out. He even made it through church today with no accidents.

Saturday morning we decided to drive out to the Kennecott copper mine to see the monster machines from Daddy's show. It was a pretty gorgeous day, so the drive was nice. The mine is seriously amazing. I can't believe it used to be a mountain. We had a fun time checking out the ginormous dump trucks and running around the visitors center pushing buttons to show how copper is used in electricity and a bunch of other stuff. We came home and had a picnic on the rug in the living room. Saturday afternoon Weston and I grocery shopped. I was exhausted by the end of the day. I feel like I'm out of shape from not doing outings all this week. Lame. Anyway, so far it's been a nice weekend and I am so looking forward to having Ian home again tomorrow. Woohoo! It is supposed to be cold and stormy tomorrow, so the plan is to do a little shopping/playing at the mall and watch movies at the house. My week is going to fly by since Monday will be an extension of the weekend and then Saturday we leave for Portland! Wow. This summer is officially over. It went by way too fast.

This is Weston right after he pooped in the potty. He was very proud of himself and saved it to show Dad when he got home from work a few minutes later. We spared you a more graphic picture of the real deal. Don't you love his Bob the Builder toilet seat and his cup of juice on the counter? :)
Ian and Weston at the mine looking out the big windows from the visitors center.
Weston turning on the lights in the buildings.
"Driving" the really old mining car.
Showing you all how big the tire of the ginormous dump truck really is.Me and Dav looking cool in our sweet shades. He looks cool anyway.
Check out the mine behind us. It is really deep and so huge. I thought it was really awesome.

Numero Dos

So Day #3 did not go quite as well . . . Weston had 2 accidents in a row. I was pretty frustrated. Then yesterday we had a long talk after he peed in his pull-up and we decided there would be no accidents. Sure enough Weston did great and didn't have any accidents. Yay! So on the peeing front we are doing well and pretty much done with teaching how that works. On the #2 front, it's another story. So far he has had one pooping accident and NO other poops. Poor kid is holding it in. We made him sit on the potty, but he refuses to push it out. I'm starting to worry it's really going to hurt him. I put him in a pull up this morning to see if I can get him to the potty to poop, but if not I don't have to clean up the huge mess.

Yesterday Dawnie saved my life and came over with Chick-fil-a for lunch and peanut butter cheesecake (can you see why we're friends? :)) and hung out with me until almost dinner time. She also stayed here with Weston for a little bit while I ran Becca and Alann to the airport. I can't tell you how fun it was to have someone to talk to. Weston was pretty occupied with playing with Mason and we even went outside for awhile. I am ready to get back to our normal schedule and routine. I've decided that I've done almost as much as I can do this week. From here on out Weston will be in underwear at home and pull-ups when we go on outings, but I still want him to go on the potty while we are out. Another big props to Weston: he has woken up dry in the mornings and from naps every day this week. I still think he's too new to pottying to put him to sleep in underwear, but I think that it's a good sign that he is waking up dry.

I am excited about the long weekend with Ian home. Should be fun, even with the stormy weather we will be having. Hopefully we will have somewhere to watch the BYU game on Saturday. If not, then Ian will probably just listen to it on the radio. Oh joy. Anyway, here is a cute pic I took of the boys. They both ended up wearing orange shirts and blue bottoms on Wednesday. I thought they looked adorable.

20 Q's

1. What do you want right this minute? For Weston to be magically completely, adultly potty trained. My life back to normal.
2. If you were a boxer, what would your ring name be? Mama Smackdown
3. Would you rather be perfect from the waist up or the waist down? Hmm, probably waist up . . .face, boobs, arms. Plus a big butt/thighs are easier to hide.
4. Would you rather meet Oprah or Ellen? Most definitely Ellen. She is my favorite. I have a deep, baseless aversion toward Oprah. Who does she think she is?
5. Have you ever had Gonorrhea? WTH?
6. What does your favorite pair of underwear look like? not overly applicable (not in the way you think . . . dirty minds), but if you must know, my favs for fun are hot pink and kinda stretchy lace. Very cute.
7. What’s one thing you’re afraid of? The dark. More like being alone (or not?) in the dark. I hate having to lock up the house and turn off the lights at night.
8. If you could be reincarnated as someone/something, what would you pick? I like my life, but I think I wouldn't mind being reincarnated as Reese Witherspoon.
9. Who is your least favorite actor? Wow, I'm having a hard time with this one. Everyone I think of has at least one thing that I have liked. . . I don't like most of Eddie Murphy's stuff though. He makes the crappiest, lamest comedy. Also, he seems like a jerk in real life.
10. Do you ever have recurring dreams? Not really. I used to have a recurring nightmare as a kid that involved me, the 2 headed monster from Sesame Street and the fix it shop. It was scary. I also used to have nightmares about waitressing while I was working at Spaghetti Factory. Now, not so much.
12. Do you like reality TV? Ugh. I like the well made sitcom: Scrubs, Arrested Development, The Office, Big Bang Theory. There are very few reality shows I will spend my time on. Ok, just one: So You Think You Can Dance.
13. Are you happy right now? I guess. The boys are both contentedly playing and watching Elmo in the living room while I am alone in the den. I hope Weston isn't pooping right now because that would mean he's not on the potty. Overall in life, I am quite happy right now.
14. Would you rather have a salad or a burger? Definitely a burger. I'm not much of a salad person or veggie person, for that matter.
15. What would you do if you were locked in a room with your worst enemy for 3 days? I can't even imagine who I would call an "enemy." I guess if it was someone I really don't like, then I would just try to sleep the whole time.
16. Were you popular in high school? I certainly don't think so, but I had my share of friends. I was kind of a chameleon and hung out with lots of different people from different groups. I never felt like I really fit in anywhere, but I guess that's just high school.
17. What did you want to be when you were little, and did you follow that dream? Um, I think I wanted to be a gymnast. I am not, in fact, an Olympic gymnast. But I did discover a different passion in high school and followed that path. Wahoo Rec Therapy!
18. What’s one of your favorite quotes? "I've made a huge mistake." (Arrested Development) "Family: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all." (one of those cheesy vinyl lettering signs)
19. What is one of your weaknesses? Guilt. I do major guilt about everything. I realize that everyone feels guilty, but I think mine hinders my life sometimes. I am really trying to learn how to let it go.
20. Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? Usually half full, but sometimes it is just one of those days.

The Experiment Continues . . .

Pretty much, if you're not interested in toddler potty training don't bother reading my next few posts. Yesterday was day #2. Weston didn't do quite as well, but still made some progress. He had an accident while playing outside, even though I had asked him if he needed to go potty like 3 minutes before. Oh well, I can only do so much. He has to learn that HE has to get himself in the house and on the potty. So that was a bummer because he was doing so well. Then right before his nap he decided he had to poop. Instead of telling me and going and trying on the potty, he did his usual thing and hid behind the armchair in the den. I didn't realize he was pooping, so missed the incident until he came to tell me. That's one way to get me to mop the kitchen and scrub the kitchen sink and counters with bleach. Anyway, it was disgusting. The rest of the day he did great. He even woke up dry this morning and peed in the potty. We are going for zero accidents today! Any tips?

On another note, as many of you know BYU's football season starts this Saturday . . . this one's for Ian and Jim (my father-in-law). Love you guys and GO COUGS!

***1:30pm: Weston is having a hard time today. Our goal of no accidents was thrown out the window around 11am and he has had 2 accidents in a row. He even told me he wanted to pee on the floor. Lucky for me they were both on non-carpet surfaces. I'm just frustrated. We may keep a pull-up on this afternoon post nap, but still take mandatory trips to the potty every half hour. I'm pretty close to running out the door screaming, crying and laughing my head off (aka, I'm going slightly crazy).

So Far, So Good

Today we started the great potty training experiment. I had talked it up all last week while we were buying underwear and stuff that this week he would be learning to use the potty. His response? "When I'm bigger and bigger, like a dad, I can use the potty." OR "like Elmo!" So this morning when he woke up I reminded him that today was the day to learn to use the potty and wear his new Batman underwear. He whined and said he didn't want to use the potty or wear his underwear. I mentally prepared myself to manipulate.

Sure enough within an hour I had him in his underwear and a white tee shirt. When he realized that he got a skittle every time he sat on the potty, even if he didn't pee, he wanted to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. Since he kept wanting to sit on the potty, I didn't go with him right away every time (he can get himself on the potty). Anyway, around 9:30 he went in there and I followed a minute or two later to find him standing in a puddle. He was so close!

We cleaned up and pushed some more juice, around 11 he said he had to go to the bathroom so I rushed him in there and got him settled and. . . sure enough, success! He peed in the toilet for the first time. We were all so excited. So he got his treat and called Daddy. The rest of the day he had plenty of "sit on the potty so I can get a skittle moments," but he also actually peed in the toilet about 6 or 7 more times. No more accidents. He took his nap in a pull up, but woke up dry and peed in the potty again before changing back into his underwear. I am such a proud/relieved mommy right now. I was so prepped for a nightmare, but so far it's been pretty smooth sailing. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. Keep your fingers crossed!
***Hilarious Side note: as many of you know, Weston is rather runty and the smallest size underwear seriously FALLS off his little butt. All day he was running around in his Batman underwear with them rolled and barely clinging to the important parts. Here he is in all his big boy glory watching "Elmo's Potty Time" (THANK YOU MEL & JADEN) for the 3rd time with his baby doll. :)

Calling all Cougars

Despite anxiously awaiting the arrival of football season, it has still managed to creep up on me. Can you believe BYU kicks off this Saturday? I am stoked. I will be even more stoked if one of you loyal local SLC readers is planning on watching the game somewhere and wouldn't mind having me, shan and the kidlets along for the fun... we can bring chips... or whatever...

So begins another season of bumming tickets off my boss, and hunting for places to watch the game. CURSE YOU MTN NETWORK! Comcast, how I loath thee.