Boot Camp: Day Six & Seven

Day Six: Parent's Day Out. Hmm. Well, I thought this day would either go very smoothly or would be a disaster for Lindsey and Nicole, Anna's teachers. Lindsey, the fearless, told me to put her in panties if I wanted and that they'd be able to handle it. I had no doubt they'd handle things, although I doubted Anna's ability. So we went in panties. I gave instructions as best I could and off I went. Anna's stubbornness had once again kicked in the day before and she didn't poop at all. So I thought there may be poop issues for Lindsey and Nicole to deal with. I didn't feel good about that at all. But, nonetheless, warned them about that and they were fine with it. I came back that afternoon and learned that Anna had had two accidents and only pottied for them twice. Not horrible, but not great. I asked what kind of accidents and of course one was poopy. Yuck. Poop in panties?! I should have just told those girls to throw those panties away if that happened. But Lindsey, the fearless, kindly cleaned them and placed them in a bag for me. Anna also pooped again in her diaper during her nap. So, no poop progress that day... But I figured that there was just too much happening around to worry about going to the potty very consistently.

Day Seven went alright. We've just had horrible timing it seems with the sale of our house and trying to find another one to move into. We had to find one quickly since the closing date of our house is November 30th! Happy Thanksgiving to us! That comment was sort of sarcastic and sort of not. So between hauling Anna with us while we house shop and/or having her stay with Aunt Jenni, there's been a little inconsistency for her first week of boot camp. Aunt Jenni is a pro with her 4 other kids and Anna does great with her, I just feel like carting her around everywhere and sometimes having to put her in a diaper just in case has not been beneficial. So we'll keep going. We went to Old Navy, Chili's and the Mall yesterday. She told me a couple of times she needed to potty, I took her, and she went! And another time, I took her without her telling me and she went then as well. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. She's getting much better. It has just been a tiring and stressful week for all of us. I'm going to try a little MyraLax in some juice today. Nurse Jenni says that'll cure the poop issues right up! Temporarily.... ha!

Boot Camp: Day Four & Five

Yesterday went GREAT! Not one accident. Well, we won't count the very small amounts of wetness she had in her panties after yelling at me and running to the potty so I can help her get on her seat. She is really starting to realize when she needs to go and that she can hold it for a little longer. Today went alright. She was great all day even while I have to cart her around and kill time while our house was being inspected. She tried to go potty at Target and at the mall but no luck, but no accidents. She even fell asleep in the car in panties and didn't have an accident. I took her later on to look at houses...no accidents and I never took her to the potty. Although the problems have begun when she needs to poop. She hasn't quite mastered that one yet even though she did it several times when she was 18 months old or so. She will tell us every couple of minutes that she needs to poop, runs into the bathroom holding her bottom, sits and does nothing. I'm not sure if she's been holding it in all day and it begins to hurt her or what. But that's usually when she'll have the little bit of wetness in her draws. Who knows. Maybe I just need to give her a ton of fiber and help it out in that way. She also had a couple of (just wet) accidents tonight while playing a little too hard. I think it was also poop related. Poor thing will be carted around tomorrow too when we go look at more houses. I hope she does alright.

Boot Camp: Day Three

Ok, yesterday by about 11:00am I was ready to quit all this potty mess. Really. But after her nap, she did kind of alright. I decided that I had been putting way too much pressure on her and myself and letting everything get to me. I mean, she has never not been in a diaper her entire life! I forget that part. So this morning, Anna woke up with a pretty nice cough and runny nose so we decided to let Daddy stay at home with her while I went solo to church. A nice break for me as well. Daddy is MUCH more patient with her and she seems to respond well with him helping. He and Anna met me and some friends for lunch and he told me that Anna had done great all morning. Since then she has had NO accidents! That's what I said...NONE...all day! She went almost every time I or Daddy took her to potty and even told us a couple of times that she needed to go. Amazing?! I think so. I'm trying to not get my hopes up because who knows what tomorrow will bring. And I still don't need to put so much pressure on everyone. Deborah, the Boot Camp Queen, gave me some encouragement at church and reassured me that she really will get it soon, and probably sooner than I think. I just need to be consistent. So wish us luck for another good day!

Boot Camp: Day Two

I need a serious pep talk.

p.s.-Thanks for the advice Jenni. I need all the help I can get.

Boot Camp: Day One

Well, it has begun. Potty training boot camp that is. And this MUST be what hell is like. I suppose it could have been worse. Anna could have pottied in her panties and on the floor every time she needed to. But there were two times that she actually went in the potty. The rest of the times played out mostly like this:

Mommy: Anna, do you need to go potty?

Anna: Nope.

Mommy (a few minutes later): Anna, do you need to potty?

Anna: No.

(Mommy then turns her back for a second)

Anna: Mommy, I tee-teed! (in her panties and on the floor)

We went to Chic-Fil-A for a quick lunch...go it to-go of course. Anna was in panties and I wasn't ABOUT to have an accident inside the place. We came home and I got her out of the car. I asked her if she needed to potty, she said "yeah" so we came in quickly and as soon as we got into the back door, she let it go. She didn't make it. But at least she told me. So that was ok.

The only times I really caught her were just plain luck, I think. I put her down for a nap in a diaper just in case. She woke up with a dry diaper and I asked if she needed to go potty. She didn't really answer, but I put her on it anyway. She instantly went. Hallelujah! There is some hope! By then I was already frustrated and thought this boot camp thing would never work. But you know me...I'm not patient at all. I had to remind myself that it was only halfway into the first day almost every 5 minutes. The other time involved a little luck (I think) and hopefully a little experience...from the both of us. I settled her into bed after another accident just before putting her diaper on for the night. I smelled something not so pleasant from under the covers. She had not pooped all day and I know she sucked it all back in a couple of times when I caught her in a mid-squat, red face position. So when I smelled the unpleasant smell, I asked her if she was poopy. She said no, but then said, "Mommy, I'ana go potty." Another Hallelujah! But then I came back to earth and thought that this would be another 20 minute pep talk while she made faces at me while sitting on the potty...and never doing anything. I ripped her out of bed and shucked her pants and diaper. She sat and sat complaining, "Mommy, my tummy hurts!" Um, yeah...ya think? After a little while of sitting she FINALLY pooped. An almost adult sized poop folks! This thing made a mean splash! Ha! But Hallelujah! "Mommy, I feel better" she said. Um, yeah...ya think? So she's back in bed now. Day One complete. They say this could take up to 2 whole weeks for them to really get it and be consistent. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

I'm off to do an almost full load of laundry...all pee soaked panties, pants, shorts, and towels.

Arrrrgh!

Anna was a pirate for Halloween. I made it back from Orlando just in time to rest a little and get her dressed and over to Aunt Jenny's annual Halloween Trick or Treat party. We had lot so fun. Daddy was very disappointed that he missed Anna Trick or Treating on her own for the first time because his flight got in late. Last year she didn't really care about anything but the suckers. Of course, she wouldn't stand very still for me to get a cheesy posed picture, but these will have to do. She has a few smiles that are very fake and just funny. She did a great job walking up to each door, knocking, usually after they had the door open for her, almost walking into everyone's house as if she were invited inside, saying "trick or treat" and "thanks" when she got her candy, and running off yelling "CANDY!!" while she tried to keep up with all the other big kids. It was great! Halloween is awesome!

The last hoorah!

Daddy had a conference in Orlando and I went along for the ride. We left Anna with Nana and Grammy for 6 days. Sad, I know...the parents went to Disney World and left the kid at home. But we figured that she wouldn't remember much about it when she got older and we'd rather take her then and us know where to go and what to do. It was AWESOME! I was reluctant at first about going, but decided that this would sort of be the last time I'd get to go anywhere for a long time since we have another kiddo on the way. I would've regretted it if I had stayed here. So here's a short (as short as I can) run down of what all we did. Thursday, the long plane ride to Orlando. Airplanes were NOT made for pregnant chicks...not that we are the majority. Ha! Friday: Drove over to Cocoa Beach (not Koko, found out that was in Hawaii, I think). It was a gloomy day, as were most of the days we were there, but we didn't care. Then we went to Wal-Mart and bought all kinds of groceries so we didn't have to eat the super expensive resort/tourist food. Saturday: We drove up (about 2 hours) to Jacksonville for the Florida vs. Georgia football game. Super COOL! We didn't have tickets for the sold out game, drove up there not knowing if we'd get any, found a FREE parking spot right beside the $25 lot. There were $40 lots as well. Ridiculous. Walked the mile to the stadium, found a really nice couple who said "they'd get us some tickets" for the price we'd be willing to pay which wasn't much over face value. The couple turned out to be the cousin of the defensive coordinator for the Florida Gators. We got sweet seats! Watched the game along with 85,000 other screaming fans. It seriously was the loudest game I'd ever been to. These were REAL fans! Florida ended up not playing well and lost...but it was great anyway.

Ok, I'll do better about being short for the rest. Sunday, I rested while Daddy went to his classes. We then got tickets to the Magic Kingdom for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party." And it was AWESOME!! We got to trick or treat around the park. There were tons of people dressed up. We watch the Headless Horseman and his HUGE horse gallop down the "main street" in front of Cinderella's castle. Halloween was about to be bumped down on my favorite holidays list, but it's definitely back up to near the top now! I felt like a kid with my eyes wide open the entire time. We stayed until the park closed at midnight and didn't want to leave.

Monday and Tuesday Daddy has more classes so I got some more much needed rest in the resort. We went to Downtown Disney both nights to walk around, shop, and eat. This place is everything Disney and more. We got Anna a Mickey Mouse baby that comes with his own clothes and blanket. She loved it. We ate at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant (so good!), saw the Lego store with the huge Loch Ness Monster all made of Legos in the water and the tourists also made completely of Legos. They even had a big area with bins full of Legos for kids to build their own stuff...and even a little race track for them to race the cars they made. Daddy thought that was super cool.

We had a really great time!! We are already planning on bringing Anna and "number 2" (Daddy also calls him "Spike"...not sure why). We thought we'd wait until they are around 6 and 8 years old. That's a long time from now but we want them to get the FULL Disney experience, and remember it. And that's probably how long it will take us to save the money to go!! Ha!

Ultrasound.

Finally....after like 12 tries I got the thing to scan. So as you can see, it's a boy! It was funny because the woman stuck the ultrasound thing on my belly and I immediately saw the "boy parts", as she labeled them. She looked at me and asked again if I wanted to know what we were having. I said, "yes, and it looks like a boy to me!" She laughed and said that I was right. We were in the ultrasound room for like 30 minutes while she tried to get a good picture of his face. He kept hiding his face with his arms and moving around so we couldn't see him. He wasn't shy about showing us everything else though. Ha! The woman had me turn over a couple of times to see if she could get a better look, and I finally just had to go to the bathroom to see if that would help. It did for a short time and she was able to get a couple of face pics. She said that he was moving around a ton and was having a hard time keeping up with him. I still don't think he is as active as Anna at this time. But he's not a still baby by any means.

Heredity Sucks.

Yesterday a cold front came through in the afternoon and by that evening it was pretty cold and windy. Anna has has a few sniffles because of all the dust flying around and, as always, demanded on going outside after dinner. So we put some warm clothes on and her hat and she and Daddy went out to throw some acorns. She loves it for some reason. Of course, she then needed to run back and forth across the yard many times...in the cold, windy air. I new what was about to happen. Anytime Anna starts to run and play a little too hard she starts to cough. A little thing called Exercise Induced Asthma. I have it and struggled with it anytime I ran, played basketball games, etc. One who has it, knows what it's like and knows what it looks like. My dad also has asthma, worse than me, and not just exercise induced....as does one of my sisters. So I knew there was a good chance Anna may have it too. The cold weather last night of course did not help her breathing and just as soon as I saw that she was running around, I called her and Daddy inside. She immediately started coughing and coughed so much and hard enough that she threw up right as they got inside the house. Yep, that's what happens with this. So there you have it. A non-medical diagnosis. That's what she has. There's not much you can do, I don't think. Just make her slow down a little every now and then. Heredity sucks. (picture taken before she puked..)

Chocolate, Chai, and Cheetos.

So, when I was pregnant with Anna, I was all about eating anything healthy. This wasn't because I was a super health freak, it's just all I wanted. It made me feel better to eat fruit and veggies...it felt clean going down if you can understand that. Well, this time around has been a little different. I still want all the good stuff (meaning the healthy stuff), but I want other things too. Like Cheetos! Those are SO good. Daddy suggested that I get the Baked Cheetos since I was wanting them so much. Anna and I have eaten only 2 bags so far. In the last few months I guess...so that's not really that many. But sometimes I just want some Cheetos. Next thing that I don't think I had much at all of while pregnant with Anna was Chocolate (it must be capitalized). I need something Chocolate almost every day. I usually get it by cramming some semi-sweet Chocolate chips in each bite of a banana or something like that. So it's really not that bad of a snack. Antioxidants right?! Ha! And lastly, Chai lattes. I've had about 4 today. If you've never had a chai latte, go get one. It's freakin' good. I think of it only as a cool weather drink. I've never had egg nog, but I think it may be a lighter version in taste, without the eggy part. SOOO GOOOD... So there you go. My randomness for the day. If those of you who haven't seen me during this pregnancy, don't worry. I'm not as big as a house as you might have imagined with this blog post. I've gained about 5ish pounds so far and am more than half way done. But wish me luck that that 5ish pounds doesn't turn into 70 in lightning speed!