I hate politics and I hate overly opinionated conversations about politics on social media and in public conversations.
I put that pre curser out there because I'm about to address a part of a speech our president made. As I present my opinion and feelings on the matter I want to make it clear that what I am attempting to address is my decision to stay at home with my children. I am not in any way trying to bash our president and I in no way see this as a part of a "Mommy War" or have any negative comments for working moms.
Let me start with what Obama said:
"And sometimes someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay at home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. That’s not a choice we want Americans to make."
USA Today released an article a few months ago with the most recent statistic that only 29% of mother's with children under the age of 18 are stay at home moms.
Our society is not quiet about how it values education, career, and money over being in the home, especially as it relates to women as we strive to "prove our equality" and so it seems wrongly assumed that those of us who do CHOOSE to stay at home are stupid and ignorant of the sacrifices of our decision to stay at home.
Let me just say that this is NOT the case. We have every right to make this decision with our husbands and for our families and this decision is just as valuable and well thought out as the mother's who choose to go back to work.
I personally, have known since I was 9 years old that I wanted to marry a wonderful man, have some amazing children, and spend my time investing in them and our home. I'm living my dream!
I CHOSE not to go into debt for a college degree because I KNEW I wanted to devote myself to my children full time and I knew I wanted to have children young.
I made sure my husband knew this about me and supported that decision within the first two weeks of dating!
We BOTH understood since before we were engaged that we would eventually be a one-income family WITH CHILDREN. And we BOTH valued that decision.
We have always known that because of this personal priority we will never have a lavish life style, but we will always have just enough. (Unless God decides to bless us more immensely than he already has!)
This sacrifice has always been well acknowledged and accepted as we made our decision.
I knew from my teen years when I decided not to pursue a college degree or corporate career that I would lead a very different lifestyle from that which is more common and valued in our society.
This is something I struggle with daily. I have dealt with more comments and situations where I felt my choice was deemed wrong or a waste or unintelligent for one reason or another and am constantly fighting to remind myself that my value and worth is not in a degree or career but in Christ alone and my choice to stay at home with my children is just as valuable as the choice of those who decide to work outside the home.
I am not ignorant. People who don't care to understand why women WANT and CHOOSE to stay at home are ignorant and frankly the idea that the reason women shouldn't have to choose to stay home is because they will make less money seems to indicate that my time with my children is not as valuable or more valuable than money! WRONG!
My time with my children and my CHOICE to make them my career will ALWAYS be more important than a second income or having more money!
And raising them the way my family deems best is contributing to the future of our country by investing in the next generation!
I am PROUD of my HARD decision to stay at home with my kids and I am PROUD of my husband for taking on the role of provider by himself and standing beside me united in OUR decision to have me stay at home.
It is a sad day to me when such an important leader makes such an ignorant statement of an already persecuted 29% of Mom's. Don't make our decision seem forced. Don't make our decision seem wrong or less important or uneducated and don't you dare try to take that decision away.
Okay, it's out, I'm done.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
So Much...
I'm not very good at blogging more regularly but things have been pretty crazy lately.
My church is going through Ephesians right now and is in a mini series about spiritual warfare and the armor of God and as such I am seeing a lot of life in a different way, wondering what spiritual warfare might be underlying in the circumstances I'm observing or experiencing.
My husband's sweet family has been through a whirl wind this past week as his step father went to trial for his indictment and verdict. The trial was with a jury and he was found guilty of insurance fraud. We know this to be false but it doesn't matter in the eyes of the law/government. He and his lawyers are working on an appeal but right now it looks like all of his assets will be taken and he will be given a prison sentence in February. This news has just devastated the family and really put Bob on all our hearts. He does not currently have a relationship with God so we are just covering him in the prayer that this would be his "Come to Jesus moment" and we do believe that God is calling to him and things are heading in that direction.
This past week Ryan was on call and worked a lot! The days that he was at home he happened to be very sick which means this 8 months pregnant mother of a 20 month old shouldered a lot of extra responsibility.
I'm also struggling with allergies pretty terribly and am limited in what I can take and my toddler doesn't seem able to sleep through the night anymore.
Needless to say, this Monday rolled around and I am already exhausted and extremely behind in house work.
Then my Monday decided to take a downward spiral when I got a call from my gastro dr that said they finally got all sorts of test results back that pointed to there NOT being a problem after all so they have no idea why I've had a terrible bout of illness in all three trimesters of this pregnancy even though it doesn't seem pregnant related.
I called my husband on my way home from Costco to tell him this news and my sleep deprived, sick, pregnant, mommy brain completely missed the fact that the light I just went through was RED! I got honked at and pulled over by no less than THREE police officers (THANK YOU JESUS AN ACCIDENT DID NOT TAKE PLACE) who were all quite angry with me and didn't seem to care that I was scared, 8 months pregnant and with my toddler and made a mistake! My dad saw all the officers and was worried so pulled into the parking lot to make sure I didn't get arrested or something where he would need to take Hannah Kate! I felt sad and stupid and Lord knows this ticket does not fit in our budget nor does the added stress and time of trying to take defensive driving and making it to a court house with a toddler 6 and a half weeks before giving birth!
THEN I take HK to the YMCA to meet the deadline to sign her up for All About Me for tomorrow and while I'm holding her on my big pregnant hip, filling out the paper work with one hand she leaks through her diaper and pees all over me. No big deal! I hold it together and decide it's much easier to change her and me than having to get her car seat out of the car, take the cover off, wash it, put it back together and back in the car.
At this point I decided I needed a LARGE starbucks drink and my favorite ham and swiss Panini so I go through a starbucks drive through on my way back home and by the time we get there I have drained my fully caffeinated, full of fat and calories drink and save my special sandwitch for after I get HK down for a nap.
I go into my house and find my psycho dog decided to play like a toddler while I was gone and scatter HK's toys and two packages of clean diapers all over the floor! (such clutter!) The dishes are overflowing from my sink onto my counter, the dishwasher needs unloaded and messes all over my house are just screaming at me.
My toddler was wound up and took forever to finally go down for her nap but when she did I went to my room, sat on my bed and took a bite of my special lunch.... which was NOT what I ordered!
This was turkey with something sweet and a bunch of yucky red bell peppers! NOT what I wanted!
My back hurts, I have to pee every 10 minutes and I feel I will never get on top of my crazy to do list.
This is a Monday for the records!
But.... God is bigger, tomorrow is a new day, and I can do this!
My church is going through Ephesians right now and is in a mini series about spiritual warfare and the armor of God and as such I am seeing a lot of life in a different way, wondering what spiritual warfare might be underlying in the circumstances I'm observing or experiencing.
My husband's sweet family has been through a whirl wind this past week as his step father went to trial for his indictment and verdict. The trial was with a jury and he was found guilty of insurance fraud. We know this to be false but it doesn't matter in the eyes of the law/government. He and his lawyers are working on an appeal but right now it looks like all of his assets will be taken and he will be given a prison sentence in February. This news has just devastated the family and really put Bob on all our hearts. He does not currently have a relationship with God so we are just covering him in the prayer that this would be his "Come to Jesus moment" and we do believe that God is calling to him and things are heading in that direction.
This past week Ryan was on call and worked a lot! The days that he was at home he happened to be very sick which means this 8 months pregnant mother of a 20 month old shouldered a lot of extra responsibility.
I'm also struggling with allergies pretty terribly and am limited in what I can take and my toddler doesn't seem able to sleep through the night anymore.
Needless to say, this Monday rolled around and I am already exhausted and extremely behind in house work.
Then my Monday decided to take a downward spiral when I got a call from my gastro dr that said they finally got all sorts of test results back that pointed to there NOT being a problem after all so they have no idea why I've had a terrible bout of illness in all three trimesters of this pregnancy even though it doesn't seem pregnant related.
I called my husband on my way home from Costco to tell him this news and my sleep deprived, sick, pregnant, mommy brain completely missed the fact that the light I just went through was RED! I got honked at and pulled over by no less than THREE police officers (THANK YOU JESUS AN ACCIDENT DID NOT TAKE PLACE) who were all quite angry with me and didn't seem to care that I was scared, 8 months pregnant and with my toddler and made a mistake! My dad saw all the officers and was worried so pulled into the parking lot to make sure I didn't get arrested or something where he would need to take Hannah Kate! I felt sad and stupid and Lord knows this ticket does not fit in our budget nor does the added stress and time of trying to take defensive driving and making it to a court house with a toddler 6 and a half weeks before giving birth!
THEN I take HK to the YMCA to meet the deadline to sign her up for All About Me for tomorrow and while I'm holding her on my big pregnant hip, filling out the paper work with one hand she leaks through her diaper and pees all over me. No big deal! I hold it together and decide it's much easier to change her and me than having to get her car seat out of the car, take the cover off, wash it, put it back together and back in the car.
At this point I decided I needed a LARGE starbucks drink and my favorite ham and swiss Panini so I go through a starbucks drive through on my way back home and by the time we get there I have drained my fully caffeinated, full of fat and calories drink and save my special sandwitch for after I get HK down for a nap.
I go into my house and find my psycho dog decided to play like a toddler while I was gone and scatter HK's toys and two packages of clean diapers all over the floor! (such clutter!) The dishes are overflowing from my sink onto my counter, the dishwasher needs unloaded and messes all over my house are just screaming at me.
My toddler was wound up and took forever to finally go down for her nap but when she did I went to my room, sat on my bed and took a bite of my special lunch.... which was NOT what I ordered!
This was turkey with something sweet and a bunch of yucky red bell peppers! NOT what I wanted!
My back hurts, I have to pee every 10 minutes and I feel I will never get on top of my crazy to do list.
This is a Monday for the records!
But.... God is bigger, tomorrow is a new day, and I can do this!
Monday, September 29, 2014
Parenting
The past week or so has been somewhat of an interesting experiment and a whirlwind of exerted energy from this pregnant mama! :)
My sister began researching certain personality traits of highly sensitive and spirited children after speaking with a friend of hers and my curiosity led me to do the same.
Hannah-Kate is definitely not considered a Highly Sensitive Person but her mama sure is! Ha! Imagine that! ;)
But my research on trying to better understand my child and how she thinks led me to try to discover what is behind her extreme physical/tactile behavior. And let me stop right here just to be clear, I was and am in NO way searching for a label to put on my child to make myself feel better as a parent. Nor do I even really think she fits the bill of any one "label" or "Personality" I was and am simply trying to be sure that as we move more into training, teaching, and disciplining Hannah Kate, we are not breaking her spirit or trying to change her personality or individuality and so that leads me to try to understand what is behind her behavior. Why she does the things she does.
AND... My research has been magnificently helpful. For whatever reason, my daughter has a deeper and more intense need for tactile/physical sensory input and output.
This week after reading signs and symptoms of this intense need I began to see the difference between tantrums and sensory need melt downs.
Here's the difference:
When HK is upset that she can't have her way or being your ordinary toddler with ordinary frustrations she will fall to the floor and throw a whiny fit for a few minutes.
When she is in need to extra sensory activities she is fussy and takes to impulsively hitting a toy against the wall. Even the toy slamming against the wall is helping that sensory input in a small way. The impact, the vibrations etc.
I started really paying attention to how many times a day my daughter asks to "go bye-bye" or play with playdough or bubbles or paint or play outside.
Literally from the moment she wakes up she is asking for one of these things.
I changed my perspective this week from seeing these as childish desires as more needs in her life. I looked up activities and crafts and set out to do several each day.
I stopped telling her not to do things like clearing off book shelves and dumping all of her toys out or making other messes and simply focused on helping her learn to pick it all up when she's done.
I started some "toddler massages" to help her calm down and really focused on understanding her and why she does what she does and the affection and outpouring of both of our hearts trying to work on the same page has been astounding. She even started sleeping better both during naps and at night!
I'm going through a parenting book in my ladies Bible Study that I'm kind of having a hard time with because it doesn't seem to leave room for this kind of thing. I feel like we really need to feel confident that we know and understand our children before we go about trying to shepherd and discipline them.
My daughter's extreme need for physical and tactile input is taxing and downright exhausting some days, and I do run out of ideas and energy sometimes to keep her sustained and I'm going to be honest, I'm anxious to have several plans in place for how to keep giving her what she needs when her little brother arrives but I LOVE this about her. She is intense and passionate. Her passion for her desires and needs and her zest for life comes from her Mommy. And her tactile and physical learning comes from her Daddy.
And knowing this about her early, and preparing ourselves for homeschooling makes me feel like we have already rescued her from being wrongly labeled and misunderstood in today's world. She is unique, and has a very special personality that I want to cultivate and help thrive. I don't want to crush her spirit, change who she is, or frustrate her with discipline to make my life easier. Having kids is something many people do, and it seems easy in our society.
Loving, training, and raising kids Biblically and as Jesus would, THAT'S hard. But more than worth it!
Understanding Hannah Kate in this special way this week and loving her physical needs as they lead to more and sweeter physical affection has just burst my heart open to grow in love for her more than I thought possible. As I get to see more and more of who she is becoming I just love her more and more.
I'm so thankful for a loving God who not only made us all so uniquely but cares about and understands our unique needs and desires.
I'm excited about figuring out who Levi will turn out to be. I am officially in the final stetch of the third trimester and I am so excited!
This Christmas is just going to be so full of so much joy! I'm not even sure my heart can handle it! ;) (Of course it can!)
I get to see how my little man is measuring and coming along tomorrow! I can tell he has grown significantly. And am pretty certain he is more than healthy based on his kicking activity.
I love seeing him though, I love day dreaming about the day he will arrive and adding him to our little family at my favorite time of year!
My little Christmas present. :)
My sister began researching certain personality traits of highly sensitive and spirited children after speaking with a friend of hers and my curiosity led me to do the same.
Hannah-Kate is definitely not considered a Highly Sensitive Person but her mama sure is! Ha! Imagine that! ;)
But my research on trying to better understand my child and how she thinks led me to try to discover what is behind her extreme physical/tactile behavior. And let me stop right here just to be clear, I was and am in NO way searching for a label to put on my child to make myself feel better as a parent. Nor do I even really think she fits the bill of any one "label" or "Personality" I was and am simply trying to be sure that as we move more into training, teaching, and disciplining Hannah Kate, we are not breaking her spirit or trying to change her personality or individuality and so that leads me to try to understand what is behind her behavior. Why she does the things she does.
AND... My research has been magnificently helpful. For whatever reason, my daughter has a deeper and more intense need for tactile/physical sensory input and output.
This week after reading signs and symptoms of this intense need I began to see the difference between tantrums and sensory need melt downs.
Here's the difference:
When HK is upset that she can't have her way or being your ordinary toddler with ordinary frustrations she will fall to the floor and throw a whiny fit for a few minutes.
When she is in need to extra sensory activities she is fussy and takes to impulsively hitting a toy against the wall. Even the toy slamming against the wall is helping that sensory input in a small way. The impact, the vibrations etc.
I started really paying attention to how many times a day my daughter asks to "go bye-bye" or play with playdough or bubbles or paint or play outside.
Literally from the moment she wakes up she is asking for one of these things.
I changed my perspective this week from seeing these as childish desires as more needs in her life. I looked up activities and crafts and set out to do several each day.
I stopped telling her not to do things like clearing off book shelves and dumping all of her toys out or making other messes and simply focused on helping her learn to pick it all up when she's done.
I started some "toddler massages" to help her calm down and really focused on understanding her and why she does what she does and the affection and outpouring of both of our hearts trying to work on the same page has been astounding. She even started sleeping better both during naps and at night!
I'm going through a parenting book in my ladies Bible Study that I'm kind of having a hard time with because it doesn't seem to leave room for this kind of thing. I feel like we really need to feel confident that we know and understand our children before we go about trying to shepherd and discipline them.
My daughter's extreme need for physical and tactile input is taxing and downright exhausting some days, and I do run out of ideas and energy sometimes to keep her sustained and I'm going to be honest, I'm anxious to have several plans in place for how to keep giving her what she needs when her little brother arrives but I LOVE this about her. She is intense and passionate. Her passion for her desires and needs and her zest for life comes from her Mommy. And her tactile and physical learning comes from her Daddy.
And knowing this about her early, and preparing ourselves for homeschooling makes me feel like we have already rescued her from being wrongly labeled and misunderstood in today's world. She is unique, and has a very special personality that I want to cultivate and help thrive. I don't want to crush her spirit, change who she is, or frustrate her with discipline to make my life easier. Having kids is something many people do, and it seems easy in our society.
Loving, training, and raising kids Biblically and as Jesus would, THAT'S hard. But more than worth it!
Understanding Hannah Kate in this special way this week and loving her physical needs as they lead to more and sweeter physical affection has just burst my heart open to grow in love for her more than I thought possible. As I get to see more and more of who she is becoming I just love her more and more.
I'm so thankful for a loving God who not only made us all so uniquely but cares about and understands our unique needs and desires.
I'm excited about figuring out who Levi will turn out to be. I am officially in the final stetch of the third trimester and I am so excited!
This Christmas is just going to be so full of so much joy! I'm not even sure my heart can handle it! ;) (Of course it can!)
I get to see how my little man is measuring and coming along tomorrow! I can tell he has grown significantly. And am pretty certain he is more than healthy based on his kicking activity.
I love seeing him though, I love day dreaming about the day he will arrive and adding him to our little family at my favorite time of year!
My little Christmas present. :)
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
SEPTEMBER!!!
I love September! It's the start of everything new!
A New Season, New weather! New Bible Studies and Mom groups. New opportunities, goals, and projects!
Friday was my first Mops meeting of this school year and it was great. I'm really hoping to get connected with some new friends and get some great advice and encouragement for everyday living!
Today I attended the first Bible Study at the church Ryan and I have been loving and it was pretty amazing.
There were only 3 other ladies there this time but at least 3 ladies let the leader know they would miss, so more ladies to meet next time! The leader has a 2 year old daughter and the other two moms have two kids each 22 months apart! That's how far apart in age Hannah Kate and Levi will be! And they aren't far ahead of us as both second kids are still babies! I'm really excited for this opportunity as I have been praying and searching for Mom Friends in my stage of life for a while now.
These women were warm and welcoming and easy to talk to. I felt so at ease and am so excited to have this to look forward to every Tuesday morning! :)
I also have new goals to achieve and so far so good!
I am getting back to my novel and my husband is really great at helping me stay productive. I got a new lap top so I can write at the YMCA after my little work outs and before I pick up Hannah Kate and we are establishing some writing and reading time in the evenings after Hannah Kate goes to bed.
My goal is to have the rough draft finished or nearly finished by the time Levi comes!
That's a LOT of writing to do in the next 14ish weeks! But I've been really enjoying it, and this particular book is one I've been trying to write for several years now and this is the farthest I have gotten on it. With my husband helping me keep a good pace and the positive feelings I get from accomplishing each writing goal, I think I might actually finish this venture! And even if nothing ever comes of it, finishing it would be a goal met! And that is accomplishment enough when your other accomplishments include making people! ;)
A New Season, New weather! New Bible Studies and Mom groups. New opportunities, goals, and projects!
Friday was my first Mops meeting of this school year and it was great. I'm really hoping to get connected with some new friends and get some great advice and encouragement for everyday living!
Today I attended the first Bible Study at the church Ryan and I have been loving and it was pretty amazing.
There were only 3 other ladies there this time but at least 3 ladies let the leader know they would miss, so more ladies to meet next time! The leader has a 2 year old daughter and the other two moms have two kids each 22 months apart! That's how far apart in age Hannah Kate and Levi will be! And they aren't far ahead of us as both second kids are still babies! I'm really excited for this opportunity as I have been praying and searching for Mom Friends in my stage of life for a while now.
These women were warm and welcoming and easy to talk to. I felt so at ease and am so excited to have this to look forward to every Tuesday morning! :)
I also have new goals to achieve and so far so good!
I am getting back to my novel and my husband is really great at helping me stay productive. I got a new lap top so I can write at the YMCA after my little work outs and before I pick up Hannah Kate and we are establishing some writing and reading time in the evenings after Hannah Kate goes to bed.
My goal is to have the rough draft finished or nearly finished by the time Levi comes!
That's a LOT of writing to do in the next 14ish weeks! But I've been really enjoying it, and this particular book is one I've been trying to write for several years now and this is the farthest I have gotten on it. With my husband helping me keep a good pace and the positive feelings I get from accomplishing each writing goal, I think I might actually finish this venture! And even if nothing ever comes of it, finishing it would be a goal met! And that is accomplishment enough when your other accomplishments include making people! ;)
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Diapers, Pull ups and Panties Oh My!
Well, it has been a full week of hard core potty training with lots of messes and ups and downs.
My biggest failure this week has most definitely been my lack of patience and the presence of frustration. This has brought me to tears as I saw it cause stress in Hannah Kate and regression in making it to the potty.
Friday night I sat in my bubble bath lamenting my failure as a Mommy to my husband and he tried to help me think through the best way to proceed. We had a long weekend ahead with my partner here to help.
I began to think about the most difficult or frustrating aspects of our weak and explained them to Ryan.
- I can't get anything done because she will have an accident if I'm not right there with her (She was going naked.)
- We can't leave the house without lots of stress and mess which makes for very long days. (We were using thick training panties when leaving the house, and HK always had several accidents)
- HK has a terrible diaper and yeast rash from the wet panties and just very sensitive skin which is near impossible to treat when she runs around naked sitting all of the floors and sofa and potty.
- But above all I feel like the number one set back was me. I just couldn't seem to handle the emotions as a mommy trying to potty train and I'm hoping a lot of that is pregnancy hormones.
SO, with all of these things in mind and my sweet and patient husband behind me with full support and a long weekend available to work it all out; we decided to move forward in potty training and move forward with an off brand of Pull Ups!
This would make leaving the house a lot easier but still allow HK to learn how to take off and pull up her pants. It also takes the pressure off of both of us to force pottying and stressing about "if it's time to pee pee" and makes it easy it brush off accidents. It ALSO makes it where I can slather HK's little bum in ointment without it getting all over the place. (Not to mention it keeps her more comfortable and helps keep her hands off infected areas.)
I struggled with this decision because of bad reviews about how this delays training and is expensive. However we didn't want to give up and this Mommy was hating the emotional toll on both me and HK so longer wasn't an issue for me as long as we could both relax a bit more.
To my surprise Hannah Kate embraced the "Pull Ups" She seemed more relaxed and confident immediately but didn't stop telling us when she needed to go, in fact she communicated even better. Everyone has been more relaxed and stress free and HK has only had accidents twice this weekend, and that was when she was with Gigi and in the church nursery and she still had successes in both environments! This is the best break through we have had this week with no signs of letting up!
Once her accidents stop nearly completely we will move to the training panties and then the normal cotton ones. Hannah Kate seems to do better in smaller steps rather than drastic changes.
We are ALL very excited about this and feel like we can resume normal activities this week.
In other news!
Hannah Kate met her new cousin for the first time, and she is obsessed with her! She asks to hug her when she is around and says hi to her and "I wudge you Bebe" and lays her head on her little tummy. :) This was SO encouraging to me as HK is a little easily excited and ... well boisterous. We have been working with baby dolls a lot lately to prepare her for her little brother and it seems she is learning very well! She was SO sweet to her baby cousin and likes to talk about her now. She will be so excited to see her again today for her naming ceremony. :)
My biggest failure this week has most definitely been my lack of patience and the presence of frustration. This has brought me to tears as I saw it cause stress in Hannah Kate and regression in making it to the potty.
Friday night I sat in my bubble bath lamenting my failure as a Mommy to my husband and he tried to help me think through the best way to proceed. We had a long weekend ahead with my partner here to help.
I began to think about the most difficult or frustrating aspects of our weak and explained them to Ryan.
- I can't get anything done because she will have an accident if I'm not right there with her (She was going naked.)
- We can't leave the house without lots of stress and mess which makes for very long days. (We were using thick training panties when leaving the house, and HK always had several accidents)
- HK has a terrible diaper and yeast rash from the wet panties and just very sensitive skin which is near impossible to treat when she runs around naked sitting all of the floors and sofa and potty.
- But above all I feel like the number one set back was me. I just couldn't seem to handle the emotions as a mommy trying to potty train and I'm hoping a lot of that is pregnancy hormones.
SO, with all of these things in mind and my sweet and patient husband behind me with full support and a long weekend available to work it all out; we decided to move forward in potty training and move forward with an off brand of Pull Ups!
This would make leaving the house a lot easier but still allow HK to learn how to take off and pull up her pants. It also takes the pressure off of both of us to force pottying and stressing about "if it's time to pee pee" and makes it easy it brush off accidents. It ALSO makes it where I can slather HK's little bum in ointment without it getting all over the place. (Not to mention it keeps her more comfortable and helps keep her hands off infected areas.)
I struggled with this decision because of bad reviews about how this delays training and is expensive. However we didn't want to give up and this Mommy was hating the emotional toll on both me and HK so longer wasn't an issue for me as long as we could both relax a bit more.
To my surprise Hannah Kate embraced the "Pull Ups" She seemed more relaxed and confident immediately but didn't stop telling us when she needed to go, in fact she communicated even better. Everyone has been more relaxed and stress free and HK has only had accidents twice this weekend, and that was when she was with Gigi and in the church nursery and she still had successes in both environments! This is the best break through we have had this week with no signs of letting up!
Once her accidents stop nearly completely we will move to the training panties and then the normal cotton ones. Hannah Kate seems to do better in smaller steps rather than drastic changes.
We are ALL very excited about this and feel like we can resume normal activities this week.
In other news!
Hannah Kate met her new cousin for the first time, and she is obsessed with her! She asks to hug her when she is around and says hi to her and "I wudge you Bebe" and lays her head on her little tummy. :) This was SO encouraging to me as HK is a little easily excited and ... well boisterous. We have been working with baby dolls a lot lately to prepare her for her little brother and it seems she is learning very well! She was SO sweet to her baby cousin and likes to talk about her now. She will be so excited to see her again today for her naming ceremony. :)
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Potty Training Days 2 and 3 (and other stuff)
I'm pretty sure Potty Training is THE hardest thing I've had to tackle as far as parenting goes.
This has been a very emotional (possibly hormonal) 3 days.
Yesterday felt like a bust, I felt like a complete failure as a Mommy and really just wanted to give up. Hannah Kate had more accidents than victories and stopped communicating about her need to go. I got frustrated and impatient with the regression as day 1 seemed to go so well and unfortunately I failed at hiding that frustration and my poor girl got stressed out and emotional. (I cried about pressuring her and worried about damaging her emotionally.)
This morning I began with prayers of patience and endurance but most of all a light hearted, care free attitude to focus only on the positive achievements of the day and not to be upset by the set backs.
Last night Ryan and I had discussed what might have caused the set backs and it seems it was the underwear that either delayed or completely did away with HK's communication. She seemed very confused and stressed out by it. Especially when accidents happened. It was also worsening a rash we are trying to get rid of so I decided to let her go naked again this morning and she did great.
In the first few hours she had one or two accidents and 6 or 7 victories! But it wasn't long before I noticed some symptoms that made me feel like Hannah Kate might be sick and need to see a Doctor. I waited until nap time and as that drew nearer she seemed to go down hill. Clingy and fussy and very congested, rubbing her face and eyes and falling asleep nearly instantly.
While she was asleep I made an appointment with her pediatrician and packed a diaper bag full of training pants and waterproof covers and also moved one of our potties to the van.
My poor girl has two nasty ear infections and possibly pink eye in both eyes. Two antibiotics later and several stops and tries on the potty and wet undies later; we were back home and at it again. She is doing pretty well and the pediatrician recommended we stick with being naked at home if not just to clear up her poor rash.
Tomorrow I have my mid pregnancy sonogram scan and I WAS going to let HK play at the YMCA and now I'm forced to make a last minute decision about whether or not to leave her based on what her eyes look like in the morning. Its possible it's all just the ear infections, but what if she did/does have pink eye?
AND what do you do with a very active, potty training 18 month old during what could be a long wait and long appointment at an OB office?
oh that we had a trusted sitter who would be willing to come to my house and patiently work with HK on potty training while being aware of her discomfort of ear infections while I go take care of her little brother at my appointment.
We are working on finding a good sitter like that. In the mean time I'm trying to come up with several game plans for the morning.
In other news! ....
I have yet to get sick again and feel like the odd chance of this mysterious illness running it's course and leaving me alone might have actually happened!
Yay!
This has been a very emotional (possibly hormonal) 3 days.
Yesterday felt like a bust, I felt like a complete failure as a Mommy and really just wanted to give up. Hannah Kate had more accidents than victories and stopped communicating about her need to go. I got frustrated and impatient with the regression as day 1 seemed to go so well and unfortunately I failed at hiding that frustration and my poor girl got stressed out and emotional. (I cried about pressuring her and worried about damaging her emotionally.)
This morning I began with prayers of patience and endurance but most of all a light hearted, care free attitude to focus only on the positive achievements of the day and not to be upset by the set backs.
Last night Ryan and I had discussed what might have caused the set backs and it seems it was the underwear that either delayed or completely did away with HK's communication. She seemed very confused and stressed out by it. Especially when accidents happened. It was also worsening a rash we are trying to get rid of so I decided to let her go naked again this morning and she did great.
In the first few hours she had one or two accidents and 6 or 7 victories! But it wasn't long before I noticed some symptoms that made me feel like Hannah Kate might be sick and need to see a Doctor. I waited until nap time and as that drew nearer she seemed to go down hill. Clingy and fussy and very congested, rubbing her face and eyes and falling asleep nearly instantly.
While she was asleep I made an appointment with her pediatrician and packed a diaper bag full of training pants and waterproof covers and also moved one of our potties to the van.
My poor girl has two nasty ear infections and possibly pink eye in both eyes. Two antibiotics later and several stops and tries on the potty and wet undies later; we were back home and at it again. She is doing pretty well and the pediatrician recommended we stick with being naked at home if not just to clear up her poor rash.
Tomorrow I have my mid pregnancy sonogram scan and I WAS going to let HK play at the YMCA and now I'm forced to make a last minute decision about whether or not to leave her based on what her eyes look like in the morning. Its possible it's all just the ear infections, but what if she did/does have pink eye?
AND what do you do with a very active, potty training 18 month old during what could be a long wait and long appointment at an OB office?
oh that we had a trusted sitter who would be willing to come to my house and patiently work with HK on potty training while being aware of her discomfort of ear infections while I go take care of her little brother at my appointment.
We are working on finding a good sitter like that. In the mean time I'm trying to come up with several game plans for the morning.
In other news! ....
I have yet to get sick again and feel like the odd chance of this mysterious illness running it's course and leaving me alone might have actually happened!
Yay!
Monday, August 25, 2014
Potty Training and Other Things
What a Day!
Well, after weeks of watching, listening, and really paying attention to Hannah Kate's "readiness signs" extensive research and encouragement from our pediatrician we decided to take the plunge into potty training! Yes, at 18 months old!
Hannah Kate has been interested in the potty for months and she first started connecting the dots by watching the dogs go out and hearing us use the word "potty" and singing Tank's "Potty Chant" with Daddy. She observed Mommy and Daddy go potty and after a few catches from near bath tub incidents, really enjoyed the "success" of being help over a toilet to poop. From there it just escalated. Her "Potty vocabulary" grew and she began telling us when she had a dirty diaper and when she was going number two etc. She even began adding a bed time trip to the little potty before her bath and was successful every time! After that she began randomly telling us she had to potty and we took advantage and let her try to go on a potty whenever we could, and most times, she did! (Even in Houston this last weekend, without a little potty!)
So; as soon as we got home yesterday at about 4pm, we decided diapers are only for sleep times until we tackle those as well. We put HK's potty in the living room and stripped her down to a t-shirt and began the messy and stressful task of potty training.
She did okay the first night. But given all of her random success and her readiness signs I think I had unrealistic expectations and I felt very guilty for the feelings of frustration I had.
After a long bath and more reading/research about potty training I realized this was a process and I needed to remind myself that the first few days were going to be rough with up and down progress.
I felt better before I went to bed and started today brand new!
The morning went great! We tried a mixture of cotton panties, training underwear and nothing at all. The first few hours were very successful, but after that Hannah Kate seemed to lose interest and had several accidents where she even told me "uh-oh" I held in my frustration and echoed her "uh-oh, let's try to get the pee pee in the potty" I reminded her. At nap time I lamented to my husband a little, and my sister, and was helpfully reminded that this was the first real day of potty training and we were fairing pretty well.
After her nap HK went potty and I put her in training pants with a plastic diaper cover over it and we went to find some books to read about pottying! We brought her potty and I put her on it every time we arrived at a store and before we left. She had several accidents and one GREAT success of keeping her pants dry and going on the potty in the van!
The potty books are really helping and from about 4pm today and on into the evening HK went hours without accidents and lots of successful trips to the potty! We ended on a really great note and I'm feeling very encouraged.
In other news; I realized today that I left my wallet in Houston! We were going to have to drive overnight and back to get it when my Mother-in-law rescued us by asking a friend to run over to her house and get it to have it express shipped to us!
SO glad we don't have to make a round trip to Houston!
AND!!!
I have a new niece! She is so adorable! And I've only gotten to see her once because Ryan was working late last week, and then we went out of town and now I'm homebound to potty train Hannah Kate BUT I get to bring tem a meal Friday night and I hope to get some snuggles in :)
Well, after weeks of watching, listening, and really paying attention to Hannah Kate's "readiness signs" extensive research and encouragement from our pediatrician we decided to take the plunge into potty training! Yes, at 18 months old!
Hannah Kate has been interested in the potty for months and she first started connecting the dots by watching the dogs go out and hearing us use the word "potty" and singing Tank's "Potty Chant" with Daddy. She observed Mommy and Daddy go potty and after a few catches from near bath tub incidents, really enjoyed the "success" of being help over a toilet to poop. From there it just escalated. Her "Potty vocabulary" grew and she began telling us when she had a dirty diaper and when she was going number two etc. She even began adding a bed time trip to the little potty before her bath and was successful every time! After that she began randomly telling us she had to potty and we took advantage and let her try to go on a potty whenever we could, and most times, she did! (Even in Houston this last weekend, without a little potty!)
So; as soon as we got home yesterday at about 4pm, we decided diapers are only for sleep times until we tackle those as well. We put HK's potty in the living room and stripped her down to a t-shirt and began the messy and stressful task of potty training.
She did okay the first night. But given all of her random success and her readiness signs I think I had unrealistic expectations and I felt very guilty for the feelings of frustration I had.
After a long bath and more reading/research about potty training I realized this was a process and I needed to remind myself that the first few days were going to be rough with up and down progress.
I felt better before I went to bed and started today brand new!
The morning went great! We tried a mixture of cotton panties, training underwear and nothing at all. The first few hours were very successful, but after that Hannah Kate seemed to lose interest and had several accidents where she even told me "uh-oh" I held in my frustration and echoed her "uh-oh, let's try to get the pee pee in the potty" I reminded her. At nap time I lamented to my husband a little, and my sister, and was helpfully reminded that this was the first real day of potty training and we were fairing pretty well.
After her nap HK went potty and I put her in training pants with a plastic diaper cover over it and we went to find some books to read about pottying! We brought her potty and I put her on it every time we arrived at a store and before we left. She had several accidents and one GREAT success of keeping her pants dry and going on the potty in the van!
The potty books are really helping and from about 4pm today and on into the evening HK went hours without accidents and lots of successful trips to the potty! We ended on a really great note and I'm feeling very encouraged.
In other news; I realized today that I left my wallet in Houston! We were going to have to drive overnight and back to get it when my Mother-in-law rescued us by asking a friend to run over to her house and get it to have it express shipped to us!
SO glad we don't have to make a round trip to Houston!
AND!!!
I have a new niece! She is so adorable! And I've only gotten to see her once because Ryan was working late last week, and then we went out of town and now I'm homebound to potty train Hannah Kate BUT I get to bring tem a meal Friday night and I hope to get some snuggles in :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)