So the potty training thing has kicked my butt. Is still kicking my butt.
Many MANY accidents lately and very few pee pees making it to the potty!
I've let this kick my butt - mentally, emotionally, physically. That's my fault. Hannah's successes with it AND her failures become my own as a mother each time she pees (or doesn't) in the potty.
What's up with that?!
I do this to myself. I analyze and over analyze and look for "fixes" because I'm a perfectionist.
Hello. My name is Jamie, and I'm a perfectionist. (she says guiltily with raised hand)
Life is messy, ya'll. I just need to learn to embrace that, do my best, and move on!
Especially when it comes to my children.
A friend of mine just Facebooked me this:
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.-
from: Song for a Fifth Child
I've heard it before, but I guess it's something that I need to read often. To remind myself of what really matters in this short, fleeting life - the gifts God has given me.
That or I need to locate some serious chill pills! LOL
Today's forget-me-not: CHILL! OUT!!
3 Day Potty Training - Day 3
I woke up this morning NOT OPTIMISTIC about how the day would go and end. I was not looking forward to doing the same thing I had done the past two days as I felt sure I would have the same results. So I did what everyone does when looking for a plan B, I started searching YouTube. :-)
I found a video of a lady potty training her child in ONE day.
I watched this video and thought, "Wow. This is so peaceful... so perfect... so not what is going on with Hannah and I right now." I figured, "What the heck! I'm gonna give THIS a try."
So when Hannah woke up, we had breakfast, and I got her pee pee Elmo doll out. I put him in a baby doll diaper, got his "panties" ready, and prepared to mimic what the lady in the video had done.
Now, I had basically done this with Hannah with the potty queen's 3 day method minus the cutie example of the doll, but I thought this would be a good way to further reinforce to Hannah what I wanted from her.
Then, I did a 3 day potty training no, no. I thought this would really "piss" off the potty training queen. LOL!
I made Hannah sit on the potty.
According to the queen, you NEVER have a child sit on the potty until they go, but I couldn't help it. I just thought, if Hannah could just release a huge pee pee in the potty, I'm sure she would see how AMAZING it is - especially after the big deal I would make out of it ;-)
So we sat on the potty and read books, and watched YouTube videos of Elmo on the potty via my phone, and drank juice, and had a sucker... and... SHE PEED! And, she looked shocked! And, I was shocked! And, we threw a party!!!
And before nap today, we did that again TWO other times. We sat on the potty - after I could see via her pee pee dance that she needed to go - and she went in the potty! And we had a party! We had some parties this morning, people!
Now, after the exciting morning, I wondered if she would do this again in the afternoon, and she did! However, I didn't want to get too excited. At the time, she was only going to the potty after I would insist that we got sit on it for awhile. I couldn't guarantee she would TELL anyone when she NEEDED to go, and I knew I couldn't expect anyone at church or the YMCA or elsewhere to sit with her until she went. Could I venture out with her at this point?
I decided it was worth the risk, so I put a pair of the thicker panties on her - figuring if she did have an accident for the church workers tonight it might not be so bad in these - then I packed her bag full of extra clothes and thicker panties, and went to church...
Where... when she was asked if she needed to go potty, she said yes. She went to the potty for the church worker in the little church potty! She went to the potty for someone else, ya'll!! Now, she did have an accident later that night, but hey, it's 50/50 right?!
Then - you won't believe this - when we got home, HANNAH asked ME to go to the potty! And when I put her on the potty, SHE WENT!
She told me she needed to go AND she went!!!
A great ending to the past three days. I'll update later about how things go from here, but I'm happy! It clicked!!!
As for the three day method from the queen Lora Jensen, I stand behind what I've said before. This method is worth a try. I know it can work. However, don't be afraid to change things up based on what you think YOUR child needs to succeed. It gives you a place to start. I would highly suggest it!
To those that have still yet to potty train one of their kidos - good luck! Potty training is hard!!! May the force be with you!!!
Today's forget-me-not: Be flexible. Stay flexible.
I found a video of a lady potty training her child in ONE day.
I watched this video and thought, "Wow. This is so peaceful... so perfect... so not what is going on with Hannah and I right now." I figured, "What the heck! I'm gonna give THIS a try."
So when Hannah woke up, we had breakfast, and I got her pee pee Elmo doll out. I put him in a baby doll diaper, got his "panties" ready, and prepared to mimic what the lady in the video had done.
Now, I had basically done this with Hannah with the potty queen's 3 day method minus the cutie example of the doll, but I thought this would be a good way to further reinforce to Hannah what I wanted from her.
Then, I did a 3 day potty training no, no. I thought this would really "piss" off the potty training queen. LOL!
I made Hannah sit on the potty.
According to the queen, you NEVER have a child sit on the potty until they go, but I couldn't help it. I just thought, if Hannah could just release a huge pee pee in the potty, I'm sure she would see how AMAZING it is - especially after the big deal I would make out of it ;-)
So we sat on the potty and read books, and watched YouTube videos of Elmo on the potty via my phone, and drank juice, and had a sucker... and... SHE PEED! And, she looked shocked! And, I was shocked! And, we threw a party!!!
And before nap today, we did that again TWO other times. We sat on the potty - after I could see via her pee pee dance that she needed to go - and she went in the potty! And we had a party! We had some parties this morning, people!
Now, after the exciting morning, I wondered if she would do this again in the afternoon, and she did! However, I didn't want to get too excited. At the time, she was only going to the potty after I would insist that we got sit on it for awhile. I couldn't guarantee she would TELL anyone when she NEEDED to go, and I knew I couldn't expect anyone at church or the YMCA or elsewhere to sit with her until she went. Could I venture out with her at this point?
I decided it was worth the risk, so I put a pair of the thicker panties on her - figuring if she did have an accident for the church workers tonight it might not be so bad in these - then I packed her bag full of extra clothes and thicker panties, and went to church...
Where... when she was asked if she needed to go potty, she said yes. She went to the potty for the church worker in the little church potty! She went to the potty for someone else, ya'll!! Now, she did have an accident later that night, but hey, it's 50/50 right?!
Then - you won't believe this - when we got home, HANNAH asked ME to go to the potty! And when I put her on the potty, SHE WENT!
She told me she needed to go AND she went!!!
A great ending to the past three days. I'll update later about how things go from here, but I'm happy! It clicked!!!
As for the three day method from the queen Lora Jensen, I stand behind what I've said before. This method is worth a try. I know it can work. However, don't be afraid to change things up based on what you think YOUR child needs to succeed. It gives you a place to start. I would highly suggest it!
To those that have still yet to potty train one of their kidos - good luck! Potty training is hard!!! May the force be with you!!!
Today's forget-me-not: Be flexible. Stay flexible.
3 Day Potty Training - Day 2
So, I woke up this morning all hopeful. Day 2 of potty training with Beth had moments of encouragement and thus the promise that the method was going to work. Beth had made it to the potty 50% of the time on day 2. Surely Hannah would at least make it once?!
No. Not really.
She likes to sit on the potty at times. One of these moments resulted in a raindrop of pee - which I then proceeded to make a HUGE deal out of.
She also had a moment where I caught her peeing, ran across my living room with her to the bathroom (we'll talk about the carpet some other time), and she let me put her on the potty to finish it (which she normally fights me about). We made ANOTHER HUGE DEAL out of that "accomplishment." You would think my "let's please mommy" girl would be all about getting her pee in the potty...
Nope. I've seen another side to my sweet Hannah these past two days, and it ain't pretty!
The rest of the day went either one of two ways - always one of these two ways...
First, she at times tells me that she has to go potty. I take her to said potty where she then exclaims, "No Potty!" Then she goes back to whatever she was doing.
Or...
Second, I catch her in the act of peeing. I yell, "Potty!" I run her to said potty where she continues to pee until I try to sit her on the potty. Two things happen at this point: She either sits on the potty and refuses to finish her pee in the potty, "No Potty!" Or she refuses to sit on the potty at all (this happens most of the time).
This has basically been the last two days for me.
I'm tired. I smell like pee. My house smells like pee. I feel like a walking zombie right now.
However, I'm committed to this. As I said before, I know this method is worth the try. I know this can work.
Will it work with Hannah? That remains to be seen.
I can tell you this though. I will give it all I got for three days, but after tomorrow, I need my life back! I've only got one more day of this in me... I think...
As for what I'll do if day three shows no improvement? Well, that, my dear readers, is for another post...
Today's forget-me-not: Don't be a quitter! Fulfill your commitment!
No. Not really.
She likes to sit on the potty at times. One of these moments resulted in a raindrop of pee - which I then proceeded to make a HUGE deal out of.
She also had a moment where I caught her peeing, ran across my living room with her to the bathroom (we'll talk about the carpet some other time), and she let me put her on the potty to finish it (which she normally fights me about). We made ANOTHER HUGE DEAL out of that "accomplishment." You would think my "let's please mommy" girl would be all about getting her pee in the potty...
Nope. I've seen another side to my sweet Hannah these past two days, and it ain't pretty!
The rest of the day went either one of two ways - always one of these two ways...
First, she at times tells me that she has to go potty. I take her to said potty where she then exclaims, "No Potty!" Then she goes back to whatever she was doing.
Or...
Second, I catch her in the act of peeing. I yell, "Potty!" I run her to said potty where she continues to pee until I try to sit her on the potty. Two things happen at this point: She either sits on the potty and refuses to finish her pee in the potty, "No Potty!" Or she refuses to sit on the potty at all (this happens most of the time).
This has basically been the last two days for me.
I'm tired. I smell like pee. My house smells like pee. I feel like a walking zombie right now.
However, I'm committed to this. As I said before, I know this method is worth the try. I know this can work.
Will it work with Hannah? That remains to be seen.
I can tell you this though. I will give it all I got for three days, but after tomorrow, I need my life back! I've only got one more day of this in me... I think...
As for what I'll do if day three shows no improvement? Well, that, my dear readers, is for another post...
Today's forget-me-not: Don't be a quitter! Fulfill your commitment!
3 Day Potty Training - Day 1
I know people think I'm crazy, and frankly, I don't care.
I'll be honest. I often do care what people think about me; however, when it comes to this, I don't.
I KNOW this is worth a try!
This 3 day potty training boot camp thing - it's the real deal! It CAN work!!
How do I know that? I tried it with Beth before she turned two, and it worked! As a result, I became a believer in the Lora Jensen potty training methodology.
And now, it's Hannah's turn to take this journey with me.
I'll continue to be honest with you. During day 1 today, doubts started to creep in... At times, I found myself losing faith in Lora Jensen's method. But then, I remembered day 1 with Beth. It was awful. She never made it to the potty, not even once on day 1. Just like Hannah today. So, I've got to stick with it... I've got see this through... Can it work with child number two?!
That remains to be seen.
We had some difficulty this morning. Everything was going okay, but then she suddenly wouldn't sit on the potty anymore. She'd pee, I'd run her to the potty, and she wouldn't sit to finish. She clung to me in terror. She screamed and whimpered most of the morning - frequently peeing all over me.
After her nap, I used M&Ms to get her to start "trying" on the potty and thus love the potty again. That worked. However, she still isn't making it to the potty. Yet.
She has figured out if she says, "Potty." Mommy will sweep her off her feet and run to the bathroom with her. She gets a kick out of this. But she only says "potty" when she doesn't have to go to the potty. We'll work on that some more tomorrow.
As for the cause of her freak out this morning? I'm guessing it was the newness of it all? The feel of pee in panties all over herself? The realization that she could actually feel an urge to pee and maybe even control it? Whatever it was, it was too much for her little brain, so she took over a 3 hour nap.
Which mommy was very thankful for!
And mommy is praying that tomorrow Hannah will AT THE VERY LEAST get the pee in the potty ONCE! With Beth, it was 50/50 on day two, but with Hannah, I'd be happy to see it happen just once. PLEASE, LORD JESUS! PLEASE!!
Today's forget-me-not: Persistence is key! Right?!
I'll be honest. I often do care what people think about me; however, when it comes to this, I don't.
I KNOW this is worth a try!
This 3 day potty training boot camp thing - it's the real deal! It CAN work!!
How do I know that? I tried it with Beth before she turned two, and it worked! As a result, I became a believer in the Lora Jensen potty training methodology.
And now, it's Hannah's turn to take this journey with me.
I'll continue to be honest with you. During day 1 today, doubts started to creep in... At times, I found myself losing faith in Lora Jensen's method. But then, I remembered day 1 with Beth. It was awful. She never made it to the potty, not even once on day 1. Just like Hannah today. So, I've got to stick with it... I've got see this through... Can it work with child number two?!
That remains to be seen.
We had some difficulty this morning. Everything was going okay, but then she suddenly wouldn't sit on the potty anymore. She'd pee, I'd run her to the potty, and she wouldn't sit to finish. She clung to me in terror. She screamed and whimpered most of the morning - frequently peeing all over me.
After her nap, I used M&Ms to get her to start "trying" on the potty and thus love the potty again. That worked. However, she still isn't making it to the potty. Yet.
She has figured out if she says, "Potty." Mommy will sweep her off her feet and run to the bathroom with her. She gets a kick out of this. But she only says "potty" when she doesn't have to go to the potty. We'll work on that some more tomorrow.
As for the cause of her freak out this morning? I'm guessing it was the newness of it all? The feel of pee in panties all over herself? The realization that she could actually feel an urge to pee and maybe even control it? Whatever it was, it was too much for her little brain, so she took over a 3 hour nap.
Which mommy was very thankful for!
And mommy is praying that tomorrow Hannah will AT THE VERY LEAST get the pee in the potty ONCE! With Beth, it was 50/50 on day two, but with Hannah, I'd be happy to see it happen just once. PLEASE, LORD JESUS! PLEASE!!
Today's forget-me-not: Persistence is key! Right?!
Collins Dixon 5K - The Gift of Running
Today, I ran another 5k. And no, it never gets old! ;-)
This race was at my church. It was in memory of a child - Collins - who died from a brain tumor. His parents (members of our church) put it together to honor Collins. It is also one of the many fundraisers they do to get money for pediatric brain tumor research and money for families struggling due to this disease. They coordinate all this through a foundation they created called Bend Your Knees.
This is one of the races I had heard about last year that inspired me to try the Ease Into a 5k app. I really wanted to be able to show my support for this family; however, at the time, I didn't feel I could walk 5k let alone run it, so I started to train. And, well, you know the rest...
As I ran this race today, I couldn't help but continually thank God for the ability to run 5k. It's a gift! I couldn't have achieved all that I have running without His blessing, His inspiration - Him!
It's a gift from God that I can run in honor and in memory of Collins... that I've run and will again run in honor and in memory of Angel. Some of these events I run in are very dear to my heart. I'm so thankful to have the ability to do this! To share my new gift and to use the gift to give to great causes.
I also see running as a gift from God for me - personally. I love running because it gives me time for ME. Time to work on keeping myself fit. Time to be by myself - with no kids hanging all over me. Time to think. Time to put everything - EVERYTHING - into perspective. Time to run and talk with the best running buddy ever - my Jesus!
I just love running! It's such a GIFT!
So....
Today, I ran another 5k. And no, it never gets old! ;-)
Today's forget-me-not: James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
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| After the run. After the run with the HUGE hill. After the 5k that was longer than 5k. Time - 34:40 |
This race was at my church. It was in memory of a child - Collins - who died from a brain tumor. His parents (members of our church) put it together to honor Collins. It is also one of the many fundraisers they do to get money for pediatric brain tumor research and money for families struggling due to this disease. They coordinate all this through a foundation they created called Bend Your Knees.
This is one of the races I had heard about last year that inspired me to try the Ease Into a 5k app. I really wanted to be able to show my support for this family; however, at the time, I didn't feel I could walk 5k let alone run it, so I started to train. And, well, you know the rest...
As I ran this race today, I couldn't help but continually thank God for the ability to run 5k. It's a gift! I couldn't have achieved all that I have running without His blessing, His inspiration - Him!
It's a gift from God that I can run in honor and in memory of Collins... that I've run and will again run in honor and in memory of Angel. Some of these events I run in are very dear to my heart. I'm so thankful to have the ability to do this! To share my new gift and to use the gift to give to great causes.
I also see running as a gift from God for me - personally. I love running because it gives me time for ME. Time to work on keeping myself fit. Time to be by myself - with no kids hanging all over me. Time to think. Time to put everything - EVERYTHING - into perspective. Time to run and talk with the best running buddy ever - my Jesus!
I just love running! It's such a GIFT!
So....
Today, I ran another 5k. And no, it never gets old! ;-)
 |
| I ran another 5k, and all I got was another cool t-shirt ;-)
|
The Peachtree Road Race
The Largest 10k in the World!
And this is what I chose for my first 10k. And it was exciting!
The air was electric. Despite the overcast sky and the pre-run drizzle, you could tell everyone couldn't wait to get started! Besides, we had prepared for the rain...
 |
| Husband had read in a running magazine to use a trash bag to keep dry until the start of the race. Then you rip it off and go! |
And as they moved us in corals toward the starting line, I was feeling like this was going to become my new fourth of July tradition!!!
 |
| I was in wave K based on my fastest 5k time. |
 |
| See the flag in back of me? |
I realized, I really LIKE running with a buddy! It made the experience that much more enjoyable!!
Then, after I had run about a 5k - and hit the dreaded "Cardiac Hill" - I had to walk some. I hated to lose my pace with my running buddy, but my body - my lungs - yelled, STOP! And I had to listen.
I've learned a few things about running a 10k. Well, at least, about running a 10k for ME.
1. I have to train better next time. I have to work up my mileage slowly - which I hadn't really done.
2. AND I have to do that OUTSIDE. Running inside the YMCA or inside on a treadmill did not adequately get me to where I needed to be to run 6 miles in the Georgia humidity without stopping.
3. And lastly, I hate running 6 miles. I just don't like it because I don't understand it, for ME. Why run 6 miles when 3 miles give you the same high but a better sense of accomplishment? Running 3 also gives me what I love most about running - time with myself and the metabolism to EAT!
So, when asked by my hubby if I'd run the Peachtree again next year, I replied, "I don't know."
Ask me next May - about the time I'd have to start training for it again. As for now, it's 5ks for me! In fact, I have a 5k that is at my church this weekend! Looking forward to it!!
But having said all that, I can say I did enjoy the Peachtree.
I discovered new things about myself as a runner.
I saw THE flag!
I ran with a running buddy for the first time - and LOVED it!
But most of all, I finished a 10k - the largest in the world!
My time for my first 10k was 1 hour and 20 minutes. Nothing to shout about. But sometimes, when running a race, simply finishing is the biggest accomplishment!
dollars and change
I'm waiting to do a post about running the largest 10k in the world - my first 10k - the Atlanta Peachtree Road Race - that takes place every year on the 4th of July. I'm waiting because I need some extra cash to purchase a race picture they took that I want in my blog post on that run. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait. :-)
Which brings me to what this post is really about - money.
Money and budgets - Dave Ramsey style.
We are currently studying about money and budgets in Sunday school via Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It's good. It's eye opening. It's something Michael and I have needed to start doing - that is taking how we spend (waste) our money more seriously.
The first step in doing this is to put together a $1000 savings for emergency use only. We've started this, and I'll let you know how long it takes. We've also put together somewhat of a budget. Nothing too detailed just yet.
Baby steps. Dave Ramsey's baby steps.
Below is a video kinda describing this process. It's a process that will hopefully get us to a place where we can actually take a vacation and give more to those things God would call us to give to.
At least, that's the hope!
Today's forget-me-not: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, so change things up every now and then! :-)
Which brings me to what this post is really about - money.
Money and budgets - Dave Ramsey style.
We are currently studying about money and budgets in Sunday school via Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. It's good. It's eye opening. It's something Michael and I have needed to start doing - that is taking how we spend (waste) our money more seriously.
The first step in doing this is to put together a $1000 savings for emergency use only. We've started this, and I'll let you know how long it takes. We've also put together somewhat of a budget. Nothing too detailed just yet.
Baby steps. Dave Ramsey's baby steps.
Below is a video kinda describing this process. It's a process that will hopefully get us to a place where we can actually take a vacation and give more to those things God would call us to give to.
At least, that's the hope!
Today's forget-me-not: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, so change things up every now and then! :-)
Resolutions Review - July
In 2013...
1. Lean on Him
2. Stay Healthy
3. Live, Love, and Laugh Often
Hello July! Month of my birth, month of the birth of my rainbow, and month of my first 10k run!!!
Unfortunately, this is also the month when I return back to work and when I found out there was something wrong with Angel (on my birthday). But, those topics are for other posts!
So now on to what this post is supposed to be about - reviewing my progress on my new year's resolutions!
1. Lean on Him - This is better. :-) I'm learning to trust Him more - for everything. And when you trust God for the details of your life, it is such a stress reliever!
I also found this awesome Bible app with short devotionals that I now start my day with. Lovin it! I've found that if I deliberately start my day in His word - no matter for how long - my outlook on the day dramatically improves!! Try it. You'll like it ;-)
2. Stay Healthy - My training for my first 10k is complete. It's now or never. Well, it's actually July 4th. Pics and update on how that goes will be this week.
3. Live, Love, and Laugh Often - VBS was last week. Wow, that was FUN! It was also exhausting, but it was definitely living, loving, and laughing. Love me some VBS!
Anyway, life is good. How about you?
Today's forget-me-not: Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
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