I feel like I haven't blogged in forever...

Lots of things are going on, good things, too. I just haven't really had the time or inclination to document them.

Here's a quick run-down of the past few weeks...

My neighbor scares me. His son used to be in my preschool for like a minute and he (and his brother, who lives with him) keeps dropping by for stupid reasons and asking me nonchalantly if my husband is home. He lives 3 houses down and can see into my backyard and the back of his house faces the back of my house since I'm in a cul-de-sac. Oh, and did I mention he has done hard time? My friend Katy thinks its nothing, and I'm sure she is right, but I get a creepy, skin-crawling feeling when he is around, always have, even before I knew about the prison time. Plus, before he called to see if his son could come back (which I was able to decline because of the full enrollment - another blessing since the child is a little bit of a discipline problem), I had a dream of two men breaking in to the house separately, but in collusion with each other, and attacking me. Makes for sleepless nights since Ben has been gone a lot lately.

Jackson's potty training is progressing, but in two steps forward, one step back-style. He'll do great all day going pee-pee on the potty, but he has yet to wear a pair of underwear all day without an accident. Tonight we tried more naked time and he peed on the floor not once, not twice, but 4 times! That is insane considering that I take him potty every 30 minutes when his potty watch goes off! Once I caught him trying to poop, but I ran him to the bathroom in the middle of the act and he made it in the potty - barely! Then about an hour later, I checked on him (I could always see him, but unless I reminded him to think about it, he'd have an accident, so I kept having to go in there every 20 min or so and ask him if he needed to go potty.), and he had pooped on the floor in two spots! Gross!!!! Guess he wasn't done earlier when he made it to the potty, grrr!!

This potty training thing is so frustrating. I feel like he is totally on board and wanting to do it just like the other kids and he wants to wear his big-boy underwear over a pull-up, but he doesn't seem to understand when his body needs to go. I don't want to quit because he is so positive about it and so proud of himself when he goes pee-pee in the potty, but at what point should he be able to figure out when he needs to go on his own? I have to take him every 30 min all day or he'll have an accident. Seriously, the two times I took him ten min late, he peed all over himself. Every 30 min is getting old real quick when I have a house full of rambunctious kids and a teething, crawling baby and next week there will be even more. On the other hand, next week, Mrs. Olivia will be here all morning, so maybe I can give it more attention. Should I put this potty-traing thing on hold, or not give up so soon. We've been doing it for about a month now. How long is the average, do you think? If I put it on hold, I won't revisit until this summer when I can give it more attention. I'm not sure if it is better to do it now when he has the big kids' example or this summer when I can focus on it more. Help? What do you veteran mothers think I should do?

Sam is finally getting 2 bottom teeth. He has been a little fussy, but not nearly as bad as Jackson was. Jackson got his first tooth at 5 months, so I have been waiting and waiting. Sam just turned 8 months last week. He is so different from Jackson, even tho they look so much alike, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised! He crawled earlier and pulled up on furniture earlier. I think he'll be walking within 6 weeks, which would be earlier than Jackson, too. He is smaller than Jack and not as heavy either, but he is so motivated to be wherever I am or his brother is. He hates to be alone and WILL NOT be left! He will play independently and is captivated (read: frozen in place) by his brother's educational TV shows for almost a whole 30 minute block, but he is such a people person that his favorite activity is to play and snuggle!! Snuggling is my favorite cuz Jack would never let me! He always wanted to go off and explore or wrestle with daddy. Sam is a mama's boy, even though his word was the indiscriminate "dada." (I thought it was "hi." He said that this week, but Ben reminded me that he said "dada" last weekend. Ben awakened me last Sat morning from a deep sleep. He had woken up with the boys and let me sleep in, so I was a little groggy when he came to tell me and I went right back to sleep, haha.) He has excellent balance and strength in his legs. Even the nurses at Dr. Chen's office commented at how hard he writhed when they held him down for his last set of shots. :(

Other news with Sam is that he has figured out how to bring food to his mouth AND how to hold his sippy cup (not always to where he can get a drink, but hey, one step at a time). This is nice because now instead of sitting and feeding him, I can break food into small pieces and he can eat it on his own. It takes him forever, and half of it ends up raked into his lap, but he likes it and it keeps him quietly occupied during naptime since his nap schedule is not the same as the preschoolers'. I am able to type my care sheets right next to where Sam eats so it is great!

Last week 3 of my kids had the flu, but somehow we all avoided it in my family and none of the other kids got it! YAY! All my sanitizing like crazy must have helped a little, I guess.

Ben is doing an OB/GYN rotation now and loves it. He hates the GYN part since he is at the county hospital and has seen some disgusting things, but he LOVES the OB part. He said that if he could JUST do OB, he would consider changing his planned specialty from ER, but unfortunately, they are kind of a package deal. HIs schdeule is a little tamer than what we were used to last semester, but the last few days were hard. He was on call three nights in a row and then came home and slept all day and went right back in. Then had one day off, worked all day today and left with his dad when he got home for a three-day weekend hunting trip. It's okay though. He needs a break, and I'm in an okay place for him to leave me with the boys all weekend. Besides, we have craft night planned and Sara is coming to stay with me, and I need to give Jackson more naked time (well, unless I decide to quit), so it is a good time to just hang at home.

I'm really starting to enjoy and appreciate my calling. Last Sunday I taught again, and it went really well. Every week I am more and more confident and comfortable getting up in front of a group of women to teach. So what now? Well, I guess the Lord feels that if I can handle that, then I might be able to handle an additional calling I'm not in YW, but I have been asked to be the girls camp leader for the ward. I know it will be a hard calling in the coming months, and I have to be gone from my boys for a week this summer, but I'm excited! I love camping and I loved girls camp and I think this is a calling I can serve in with enthusiasm. My mom has already agreed to come and stay with my boys for the week if for some reason Ben can't be with them. (We don't know his schedule for the summer yet.)

Well, I'm sure there is more, but that was a bit longer recap than I had planned when I sat down and I have much to do before I can go to bed, so more will just have to wait till next time!