Potty Progress

WARNING: At some point, I plan to have my blog bound as a hard copy of my journal, so many things I document for my records and family reference. The following blog is about potty-training and may include more details than you want to read. Proceed at your own risk!
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I vowed to put everything I had into Potty training Jackson this Spring Break since we weren't planning on going anywhere this year. He did really well, and made several steps in the right direction. I truly believe that he would be potty trained already if I had the time to be more consistent with him, but when you are taking care of 10 kids and 4 are still in diapers...you forget. A lot. Whenever we really try to encourage him , he jumps right in and goes potty. He is proud of himself and he likes to go, so I couldn't in good conscience give up until I had given it one last good try.

On Friday, Jackson didn't have any accidents all day (I don't count the time he peed a little on the carpet because he was trying to push out a little toot, haha)!! He will now tell me he needs to go pee-pee and go take care of it completely on his own, but only if he is naked. If he is dressed, he doesn't even think about it.

Several times when he was naked, he needed to go poop. He wigged out!! The first time, he came running toward the bathroom all flustered, saying "I wanna lay down! I wanna lay down!" (That is what he says sometimes if he has a poopy diaper and wants me to change it.) and as he was running, I saw a little poop hit the floor. When I realized he needed to poop more, I tried to get him to sit on the potty and he would sit, but the second he was about to go, he'd freak out and jump up. I don't know why, but he seems to be scared to poop in the potty.

I told him he'd get in trouble if he pooped or peed on my carpet, and that seemed to work - no more accidents on the carpet when he was naked. (Not my finest moment of parenting, but I did that because he sees our new puppy get a spanking when she has an accident on the carpet and it seemed to connect with him that the carpet is NOT the place to go if he needs to. I tell him puppies pee-pee and poo-poo outside and big boys go potty in the potty, but we do NOT go potty on the carpet.)

Since then every time he needs to poop, he runs back and forth from the playroom to the potty. He'll sit, then jump up and run away, then he'll come back and sit, and then jump up and run away. He has yet to poop in the potty. He needs to go right now, in fact, and he keeps begging me to put his diaper and jammies back on. I keep refusing and telling him that big boys go poo-poo in the potty and if he needs to go, he should go sit down. We have tried sitting there and singing songs and I have even promised him a Chocolate Santa left over from Christmas which he wants more than anything!! I feel like we are close and if I can just get him to sit and go, we'd break that barrier, and he'd see it's not scary, and we'd be mostly done with potty training.

I wish today wasn't the last day of Spring Break because I feel like if I could just have a couple more naked days and then maybe a transitional few days in big boy underwear, then we'd be there, but I worry what will happen when all the kids come back tomorrow.

Welcome Spring!

(This picture is wishful thinking...)

This weekend Ben went back to Woody Woods to work more on the cabin and hunt a little. He didn't get a Spring Break, so he was in dire need of some down time away from the stresses of life. He recruited his dad, my brother and my father to go with him.

Yesterday was the first day of Spring. This Spring Break has been absolutely beautiful weather, with temperatures reaching above 70, but Saturday (yesterday) was the one day we were almost guaranteed a day-long thunderstorm and cold-front. Saturday morning that cold front cold very cold, and the rain turned to unexpected sleet and snow and we.got.pelted!

I made a trip to Wal-mart at about 7:00 with Jackson, while my mom (who stayed with me in FW) stayed with a sleeping Samson. The conditions at that time were blizzard-like. As I was trying to get Jackson & groceries in the car after shopping, the strong winds blew my cart away several times and my door slammed shut twice. The snow was coming down so strong I had to close my eyes and protect my face from stinging sleet. We didn't end up getting much snow that stuck this morning, but what we did get turned to a layer of ice. As we watched the news debating on whether we should go to church, we saw that there were many accidents and even some fatalities already by 9 a.m. (We decided NOT.)

So now I am worried about our men coming home from East Texas where temps did NOT get below freezing and they got off and on thunderstorms. I cannot call them because they are deep in the Davy Crockett National Forest (We have family land and a cabin there.) and they get no service. I can only hope that by the time they get to this area, the roads (and temperature) will be warmed up and used enough that they will no longer be hazardous.

However, my FIL and my family have to continue on to Tulsa. Tulsa was expected to get up to 10 inches of snow and temperatures will not be above freezing until Monday afternoon. We'll have to see what my dad thinks when he gets here, but I predict that they will be staying here an extra day!

Photo Update - V Day to Spring Break

Jackson was watching a movie before bed and got seats for his baby bear and his puppy to watch it with him. I just thought that was so cute.

"The guys" are taking a ride in Daddy's shoes.

Bathtime with brother is so fun!! "He got me all wet," is what Jackson says. He doesn't like Sam's splashing, but they both laugh a lot.

Sam is Mr. Mischief these days. Today I caught him splashing around in an open potty. Heaven help me when he starts really walking. He could if he wanted to right now, and he has taken a few steps, but he is such a speedy crawler he doesn't want to take the time to try to walk. It slows him down too much.

Last Friday we were playing "sleepy zombies". Mama was a sleepy zombie chasing him, and Jackson has a bad habit of running without watching where he is going and this time the couch taught him a not-so-fun lesson. It looks better now. He didn't get the complete black ring around his eye, but he had a nasty cut and bruise on his eyelid.

February date night: We went to Main Event. We bowled, played in the arcade, ate dinner, and even played some laser tag.

We got a four day weekend for President's Day courtesy of record-breaking snowfall. I only had one kid in school that day so we adopted him into our family for the day. We made snow forts, had a snowball fight, and then warmed up with hot chocolate. It was a fun February surprise!

Family

So Mrs. Olivia and I were talking today about the kids while they were cleaning up and transitioning to handwashing/lunch. We came to the conclusion that not one single child I have ever had in my (full-time) care has a complete original family originating from the same two biological parents who are still together. Not one. Here is the breakdown:

Total of adopted children I have had in care: 4

Total of children being raised by a single parent: 4

Total of children with one or more parents remarried, with half-siblings: 4

I am just stating facts here. I have been remarried myself, and could have easily had a child from that marriage, so I'm not judging. I just think these stats say something about the deterioration of the family, and how Satan will go to great lengths to destroy it.

Now, in contrast, every single kid I have ever had in part-time care (don't know why that makes a difference) HAS come from a two-parent, original biological parents, non-half siblings family.

Makes me grateful to have an eternal family!!

Sick of Sickness

I am so sick of my kids being sick.

and the preschoolers being sick.
and the wiping of runny noses and dispensing medicine
and sanitizing and cleaning up the hoards of tissues we are going through.
and the phlegmmy coughs, that sometimes turn to puking (in Sam's case).
and checking kids temperatures to see if they need to be sent home.
and the non-sleeping.
and the crankiness.
and the fact that it is too cold to go outside and the kids are too sick anyway when I just want them to run around and wear themselves out and stop whining and fussing over every little accidental "Jackson-bumped-into-me" or overreacted "EEEEW! Sam-spit-up!!" or "She-took-my-toy" or "He's-not-cleaning-up."

I'm cranky.

Is it Spring Break yet!?

The novelty has worn off

Poor Roxy. A week into her new home and she gets no love these days. Of the 2 boys who were so infatuated with the adorable puppy, one crawls up in my lap and clings for dear life when she comes near him, and the other eggs her on until she starts to play too rough and then he gets hurt and wants nothing to do with her. She is quite an exuberant puppy, a side of her we didn't see until this week.

And me?

Well, *sigh* I knew better. I'm cleaning up enough accidents off the carpet with spit-up and potty-training, I wanted nothing to do with this from the start, but saw the value in having a larger and younger dog with fresh ears to protect us when Ben is gone. So, alas, I have one more to clean up after.

I swear, after this, I am ripping up my carpet and staining the concrete! Ben has taken most of the responsibility for training her and cleaning up after her and for that I am grateful. We love her, but we are already ready for the puppy stage to be over with!!

Then there is Lady. She either hides in her crate or in a corner, giving me death-looks, as if to say, "What were you thinking!?" If Roxy chances to get too close, Lady barks and growls ferociously, saying, "Don't even think about it small-fry! I may look old, but I will rip you to shreds if you get in my face again!"

I think it will be a while before we all come to appreciate her fully, but we are being patient. After all, she is really cute...

This is what happens when Daddy does bath and bedtime...

Your feet look like Curious George! Ben said he realized after he put them on that they were mitten and not socks, but by then he didn't think it really mattered. They kept his feet warm while he slept just the same. Hahahaha! I laughed til I cried!