My daughter is my greatest blessing. She's also the source my greatest worry/stress. I knew being a mother would be hard, but its hard in so many different ways than I expected!
The hardest thing about being a mother is when your child is sick. Hands down. Yes, sometimes she's in one of her toddler moods and she's extremely hard to deal with, but I can handle that. I can handle it when her feelings are hurt or she's have a tantrum. I can even handle it when she gets a boo-boo like a scraped knee or a busted lip (which happened recently - and dang, do mouth wounds bleed a lot!!). But it kills me to know something is wrong that I can't fix with a hug and a kiss, or a Bandaid.
No one told me about this part of motherhood.
C is not sick right now. I do suspect she has yet another UTI, though. Her last one was just 3-4 weeks ago. The past few days, she's been showing the same symptoms she always does - very frequent urination and lots of accidents. Actually, over the weekend she did really well.
A few nights last week she told me her pee-pee hurt, and twice she actually cried when she was peeing. Since it only lasted a few nights (and only happened at night), I didn't think much of it.
Sunday at the baby shower, she did really well - no accidents. But she was going to the potty pretty frequently. Once, I asked her if she needed to potty and she did, then we barely made it out of the door before she said "I gotta pee-pee again!" But that time nothing came out. That's odd for her, but since she was otherwise acting fine, I brushed it off.
Yesterday when I picked her up, my MIL told me C had had 3 accidents that day. Pretty unusual for her. Then again, she had a busy weekend, my mother kept her on Friday, and we were at the beach Thursday. Sometimes a disruption in her normal schedule messes up her potty habits with my MIL. When that normally happens, she does just fine at home with me. So I again didn't think much of it.
Until I got home, and she had 5 accidents in the span of an hour and a half.
That is a lot of urinating! Each time it was just a small amount. Just like when she had her last UTI.
I can't say that I panicked, but I was on the edge. I feel so out of control when this happens. WHY does my baby keep getting UTIs??!
Next Monday, we have an appointment with a pediatric urologist at Duke. I'm hoping he can give us some answers.
In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and get a urine sample to her pediatric doctor. Last month, the nurse told me I could just bring in a sample without her being seen, but at the last minute, they changed their mind. (And then she got that terrible stomach bug from being in that germ-infested place.) So I brought the sample with me to work and called the peds. You have to leave a message for a nurse to call you back, and they usually call within an hour. 3 hours later I hadn't heard a thing, so I left another message.
This time, they called back pretty quickly. But the nurse said I had to bring her in. I insisted that I did not want to take her in, and explained that every single time I take her there, she comes home with a virus. That place is disgusting. Plus, we have to wait over an hour every time. Its just so stressful. I figured since they just saw her 3-4 weeks ago for this same issue, it wouldn't be a big deal to just test her urine.
Well, the nurse was kinda ugly on the phone, which brought out my inner Mama Bear. You don't want to be on the wrong side of that, trust me. I demanded that she ask the doctor and get back to me. Well, lo and behold, the doctor said it was fine to drop off a urine sample. But if it was positive, she wouldn't prescribe antibiotics without seeing C. Fine.
I dropped off the sample and told the nurse to call me. I explained to her that last month, the urine looked fine initially, but the culture grew, so to make sure to not discount it until tomorrow morning. She called me back in an hour and said the urine was fine. I asked had they cultured it and she said "umm....it got thrown away." WHAT!!
Let's just say that woman should be glad this happened over the phone and not in person. I was furious. I mean, really?! Why would you throw out a sample before you're done doing standard tests on it????!
For now, we're just gonna wait and see how C is tonight. If she's urinating a lot again, I'll try again with another sample tomorrow. Maybe it was just a one day thing, who knows.
It just doesn't seem normal to urinate that frequently and have nothing be wrong. Plus, we already know that her right kidney is swollen, and has been for at least 2 years now. My prayer is that this specialist on Monday can help us figure this out. Until then, please pray that C is okay and doesn't have an infection!
And yes, I have decided after this incident that I am DONE with her pediatric doctor. DoctorS, actually. Its a group practice. I love 2 of the physicians, but they are not worth all the headache I deal with every single time I go there. Last month, after the nurse called to confirm the UTI, I requested to speak to a doctor. The doctor that actually delivered me 30 years ago was who called me back. I've always liked him, until that day. When I asked him why C keeps having these UTIs, he was too nonchalant about it and brushed me off. When I requested a referral to a specialist, he tried to talk me out of it, saying a specialist wouldn't do anything. I had to demand a referral. He reluctantly gave me one, but I did not like his attitude. I am not the type of mother who rushes her child off to the doctor at every sniffle. (Hello, she had a cold for 5 weeks earlier this year, and I never even called the doctor cause I knew it was a cold.) But I trust my instincts, and so far they haven't led me wrong.
Showing posts with label potty training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potty training. Show all posts
8.13.2013
7.22.2013
One Thing After Another
My poor baby girl just can't catch a break lately. First she had the UTI, then she got the stomach bug, and now it appears she's got vaginitis (AGAIN - I hate antibiotics for that reason!!) and some sort of really strange rash. :( She's a tough cookie, though - none of this is slowin her down much!
The stomach bug lasted almost a week. It didn't stop all at once, it was very gradual. And thankfully no one else got it from her, which makes me think maybe it was, in fact, related to the antibiotics and not actually a virus (though she did have a fever for a few days, so who knows). At any rate, I'm super glad that its over. There is nothin worse than seeing your child in pain and not being able to help. And her little tummy was causing her a lot of pain!!
Every time C is on antibiotics, she develops vaginitis (basically, a yeast infection; not sure why her dr calls it something different). I mean every. Time. Its so frustrating. I know we can try to prevent it by getting her to take probiotics and eat yogurt. But, seriously, have you ever tried to get a toddler to consume something she didn't want?! Its near bout impossible. This time, I bought gummy bear probiotics, and I just knew she'd love them cause they're basically candy. Nope. She wouldn't touch them for days. Until we saw a commercial on TV and the littler girl ate some. Even after that I've managed to get C to eat maybe 2 of them. They taste pretty good to me, so I assume she just doesn't like the gummy texture. *sigh*
As for yogurt...she used to love the stuff. She'd ask for it. But maybe she ate too much of it and got sick of it, cause now she rarely will eat it. My MIL can't get her to eat it at all anymore, and I can only occasionally. I got her to eat one container of yogurt when she was on antibiotics this last time. After that she wouldn't touch it. So I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that she'd get a yeast infection at some point, and I've been watching for it.
Its probably been building up for the past several days, and we just weren't able to see any outward signs (i.e, redness) yet. Well, I saw the tell-tale redness last night. Thankfully, the last time we dealt with this the dr provided us with a ton of Nystatin cream, so I won't have to take her back to get a new prescription. She's already had 2 doses of the stuff, so she should be improving pretty quickly. But the stupid yeast infection makes her have accidents, just like with a UTI. Its so frustrating. I think its because the infection makes it burn when she pees, so she holds it until she just can't hold it anymore, then has an accident. Cause she's not just been having small accidents (like she did with the UTI - that was a tiny amount of urine every 20 minutes or so) - this is like a lake every few hours! Big mess to clean up. My MIL told me last week that C was still wetting her pants quite a bit, and I told her she's probably messed up from bein sick, just to give her time. But now I'm thinkin its the vaginitis that was brewing. *sigh*
The good news is that the Nystatin usually works really fast, and then she'll stop having accidents. I know the pattern. Luckily, she doesn't have to be on antibiotics very often since she's a pretty healthy child (other than recurrent UITs, and we are seeing a specialist next month about that). She's had 2 ear infections that we treated with antibiotics. The only other thing she's taken them for was UTIs. I think that's pretty good for 2.5 years. Anyway, the faster she gets, the better cause we're all sick of dealing with accidents! Yesterday she peed on my bed and my couch. And I don't mean a little bit. It looked like someone had spilled a gallon of liquid both times. Oh, and she did the same thing in the carseat over the weekend. *sigh!* You can't get mad at her though; she can't help it. We're just workin through this until she gets back to normal.
Now for her rash...this one has us all completely stumped. I noticed it Friday night. She was super ill Friday evening (that means she was in a bad mood, for all you non-Southern folks!) and we couldn't figure out why. She ate a lot at supper - I had cooked fried pork chops, fresh green beans, and fresh potatoes, and she ate everything, which surprised us. After supper, the 3 of us went outside to feed the animals. When we got back in, I noticed what looked like a bug bite on her shoulder. I had forgotten to put bug spray on her and it was at the edge of dark, so I assumed it was a mosquito. Well, in the bath tub later, I could see the spot better and it didn't look like a mosquito bite. It almost looked like fire ants had got on her. She had 6-8 little whelps and the whole area was very red. Wasn't bothering her though.
Then I noticed she had another really red area on the back of her neck. By the time we got out of the tub, I was noticing red places (and some with whelps) on several different areas on her body. None of the areas were bothering her, so I wasn't too worried. Until I was literally watching them pop up! It was crazy. When they got on her face (around her eye), I got concerned. So I gave her Benadryl. She hadn't had anything to eat that was new to her, and hadn't been exposed to anything new at all recently.
Saturday morning, she looked better, but as the morning wore on, I was seeing more red places pop up. And then it got really weird. She'd get a red area and a whelp that looked like a bug bite, and 30 minutes later it was gone. You could literally watch it pop up then disappear. Crazy. It still wasn't bothering her, so I just let her go about her day as usual. The 2 of us went to my MIL's pool that afternoon, and I'm sure the chlorine didn't help her at all. When we got back home, it looked like she had eczema on her thighs and butt. I rubbed her down with lotion and got her to sleep, but she slept fitfully. That night I gave her more Benadryl. DH kept saying take her to the dr, but I knew they'd tell me to do what I was since it wasn't bothering her at all.
Yesterday the places were a little itchy to her, but not enough that it interfered with her day or anything. For church I put her in a super soft dress with no inside seams, and during church we were watching her get redder and redder, and little whelps popping up everywhere. And then disappearing. After church I let her be naked at home, because it did seem that any type of fabric was irritating her skin. That did help some, but she was still getting red places.
I gave her more Benadryl last night and this morning at first she looked much better. By the time I dropped her off at my MIL's, though, I saw several red places - on her feet and around her right eye. :( I've looked online and all I can find is reactions to changes in diet or things like fabric softener. Well, I've been using All Free & Clear for years now, and I don't use fabric softener cause I'm allergic to it (and it ruins cloth diapers). Absolutely nothing has changed lately. The only thing I can think of is maybe she's developed a sudden food allergy. But to what?? Over the weekend she ate a ton of bread and crackers, but that's normal for her. My girl loves her carbs, haha. I don't even want to call the pediatrician because they're gonna want to see her, and we are NOT doing that again right now. I hate exposing her to all those germs in that place, and I know her immune system is weak right now, since she's been dealing with so much. No, thank you. So I'm not sure what to do. I'm gonna keep researching and keep praying that it doesn't get worse. Maybe its a delayed reaction to the antibiotic she was on? Her last dose was Friday night. But she's had that drug before, several times. I'm at a loss!!
Sorry, I know this post was terribly boring for people other than myself. But I wanted to document it for later. I really hope I haven't passed on my freak gene to my daughter. We all know that Nikki has unexplained health issues that come and go. :(
The stomach bug lasted almost a week. It didn't stop all at once, it was very gradual. And thankfully no one else got it from her, which makes me think maybe it was, in fact, related to the antibiotics and not actually a virus (though she did have a fever for a few days, so who knows). At any rate, I'm super glad that its over. There is nothin worse than seeing your child in pain and not being able to help. And her little tummy was causing her a lot of pain!!
Every time C is on antibiotics, she develops vaginitis (basically, a yeast infection; not sure why her dr calls it something different). I mean every. Time. Its so frustrating. I know we can try to prevent it by getting her to take probiotics and eat yogurt. But, seriously, have you ever tried to get a toddler to consume something she didn't want?! Its near bout impossible. This time, I bought gummy bear probiotics, and I just knew she'd love them cause they're basically candy. Nope. She wouldn't touch them for days. Until we saw a commercial on TV and the littler girl ate some. Even after that I've managed to get C to eat maybe 2 of them. They taste pretty good to me, so I assume she just doesn't like the gummy texture. *sigh*
As for yogurt...she used to love the stuff. She'd ask for it. But maybe she ate too much of it and got sick of it, cause now she rarely will eat it. My MIL can't get her to eat it at all anymore, and I can only occasionally. I got her to eat one container of yogurt when she was on antibiotics this last time. After that she wouldn't touch it. So I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that she'd get a yeast infection at some point, and I've been watching for it.
Its probably been building up for the past several days, and we just weren't able to see any outward signs (i.e, redness) yet. Well, I saw the tell-tale redness last night. Thankfully, the last time we dealt with this the dr provided us with a ton of Nystatin cream, so I won't have to take her back to get a new prescription. She's already had 2 doses of the stuff, so she should be improving pretty quickly. But the stupid yeast infection makes her have accidents, just like with a UTI. Its so frustrating. I think its because the infection makes it burn when she pees, so she holds it until she just can't hold it anymore, then has an accident. Cause she's not just been having small accidents (like she did with the UTI - that was a tiny amount of urine every 20 minutes or so) - this is like a lake every few hours! Big mess to clean up. My MIL told me last week that C was still wetting her pants quite a bit, and I told her she's probably messed up from bein sick, just to give her time. But now I'm thinkin its the vaginitis that was brewing. *sigh*
The good news is that the Nystatin usually works really fast, and then she'll stop having accidents. I know the pattern. Luckily, she doesn't have to be on antibiotics very often since she's a pretty healthy child (other than recurrent UITs, and we are seeing a specialist next month about that). She's had 2 ear infections that we treated with antibiotics. The only other thing she's taken them for was UTIs. I think that's pretty good for 2.5 years. Anyway, the faster she gets, the better cause we're all sick of dealing with accidents! Yesterday she peed on my bed and my couch. And I don't mean a little bit. It looked like someone had spilled a gallon of liquid both times. Oh, and she did the same thing in the carseat over the weekend. *sigh!* You can't get mad at her though; she can't help it. We're just workin through this until she gets back to normal.
Now for her rash...this one has us all completely stumped. I noticed it Friday night. She was super ill Friday evening (that means she was in a bad mood, for all you non-Southern folks!) and we couldn't figure out why. She ate a lot at supper - I had cooked fried pork chops, fresh green beans, and fresh potatoes, and she ate everything, which surprised us. After supper, the 3 of us went outside to feed the animals. When we got back in, I noticed what looked like a bug bite on her shoulder. I had forgotten to put bug spray on her and it was at the edge of dark, so I assumed it was a mosquito. Well, in the bath tub later, I could see the spot better and it didn't look like a mosquito bite. It almost looked like fire ants had got on her. She had 6-8 little whelps and the whole area was very red. Wasn't bothering her though.
Then I noticed she had another really red area on the back of her neck. By the time we got out of the tub, I was noticing red places (and some with whelps) on several different areas on her body. None of the areas were bothering her, so I wasn't too worried. Until I was literally watching them pop up! It was crazy. When they got on her face (around her eye), I got concerned. So I gave her Benadryl. She hadn't had anything to eat that was new to her, and hadn't been exposed to anything new at all recently.
Saturday morning, she looked better, but as the morning wore on, I was seeing more red places pop up. And then it got really weird. She'd get a red area and a whelp that looked like a bug bite, and 30 minutes later it was gone. You could literally watch it pop up then disappear. Crazy. It still wasn't bothering her, so I just let her go about her day as usual. The 2 of us went to my MIL's pool that afternoon, and I'm sure the chlorine didn't help her at all. When we got back home, it looked like she had eczema on her thighs and butt. I rubbed her down with lotion and got her to sleep, but she slept fitfully. That night I gave her more Benadryl. DH kept saying take her to the dr, but I knew they'd tell me to do what I was since it wasn't bothering her at all.
Yesterday the places were a little itchy to her, but not enough that it interfered with her day or anything. For church I put her in a super soft dress with no inside seams, and during church we were watching her get redder and redder, and little whelps popping up everywhere. And then disappearing. After church I let her be naked at home, because it did seem that any type of fabric was irritating her skin. That did help some, but she was still getting red places.
I gave her more Benadryl last night and this morning at first she looked much better. By the time I dropped her off at my MIL's, though, I saw several red places - on her feet and around her right eye. :( I've looked online and all I can find is reactions to changes in diet or things like fabric softener. Well, I've been using All Free & Clear for years now, and I don't use fabric softener cause I'm allergic to it (and it ruins cloth diapers). Absolutely nothing has changed lately. The only thing I can think of is maybe she's developed a sudden food allergy. But to what?? Over the weekend she ate a ton of bread and crackers, but that's normal for her. My girl loves her carbs, haha. I don't even want to call the pediatrician because they're gonna want to see her, and we are NOT doing that again right now. I hate exposing her to all those germs in that place, and I know her immune system is weak right now, since she's been dealing with so much. No, thank you. So I'm not sure what to do. I'm gonna keep researching and keep praying that it doesn't get worse. Maybe its a delayed reaction to the antibiotic she was on? Her last dose was Friday night. But she's had that drug before, several times. I'm at a loss!!
Sorry, I know this post was terribly boring for people other than myself. But I wanted to document it for later. I really hope I haven't passed on my freak gene to my daughter. We all know that Nikki has unexplained health issues that come and go. :(
4.19.2013
The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013
Last year, there were 15 participating countries, and everyone around the world changed diapers simultaneously - which meant that in some countries, the change happened at 2am! This year, we'll all be changing diapers at 11am local time, so it will roll around the world. The record was broken in 2012:
The new world record shows 8,251 qualifying participants
at 189
locations on 4 continents!
This far exceeded our 2011 record
of 5026
simultaneous cloth diaper changes!
(from the GCDC website)
I can't wait to see if we break the record this year!!
I wasn't able to attend last year because the event was held on the same day as my cousin's bridal portraits. I did her makeup, plus I was her Matron of Honor, so I had to be there. And I wouldn't have missed seeing that for the world! In April of 2011, I had just started my cloth diapering journey, and I hadn't even heard about the Great Cloth Diaper Change, so I missed it. Next year, unless I have another child between now and then (which I highly doubt will happen! haha), C won't be eligible. Plus, I REALLY hope by next April she'll be completely out of diapers!! So 2013 is my only chance (until baby #2 comes - if that ever happens) to attend.
Even more exciting is my local chapter of the Real Diaper Association is hosting an event! So we won't even have to travel far to do this. Plus, I registered early enough that I'll be receiving a "swag bag" tomorrow full of goodies. I have no idea what's in there, but I feel like a kid at Christmas. ( :
It will be so neat meeting more mamas that use cloth diapers on their babies. I have one friend that uses cloth, and I'm a member of a facebook group for local cloth diaper users. I did attend one local cloth diaper meeting, but they've since changed their meeting time to when I'm at work - boo. So I'm excited to be around other mamas with babies with fluffy butts. I love seeing what diapers work for other people. And I love seeing all the cute prints on those little bums!
Here's a a few of the requirements for tomorrow's event, set forth by Guinness:
~Each location must have at least 25 participants (and they must be at least 18 years old).
~The baby being diapered must be 39" or less.
~The diaper must be 100% reusable (no hybrid diapers), and commercially available. So no WAHM or self-made diapers unless they are sold on Etsy or a site like that.
There has to be witnesses and pictures taken to prove that we did, indeed, all do the change at exactly 11am, and that we weren't lying about the number of participants. I'll just be hanging out with C and putting a diaper on her - no work involved. ( : And yes, the diaper will immediately come off since she wears big girl panties all day!
Speaking of that, I'm very curious to see how this goes for her. She absolutely refuses to wear a diaper during the day now. If I even mention it, she flips out. I'm sure I will be bribing her tomorrow to let me put on on her briefly - haha. I'll be sure to post a recap of the event on Monday, and hopefully I'll have a few pictures to share! I can't wait!
In other news, this weekend looks to be pretty relaxed. No plans for tonight, and the only thing on the agenda for tomorrow is the GCDC event. Maybe I'll convince my friend to take the babies to the park or something after lunch. Sunday, another friend's baby is turning 2, so we'll be going to her birthday party. That'll be fun. I love watching C interact with other kids her age.
So yeah, we have 2 events planned for the weekend, but for us, that's pretty slow. The next few months are going to be so busy...just like the last few have been! I'm definitely ready for a vacation (which should be happening late in May - woohoo!). Next weekend we'll be going to the NC Pickle Festival, and that's always a lot of fun. I'll also be having a girls' day with my best friend, and we're going to a spa!! I'm so excited. ( :
4.12.2013
All Sorts of Things
Its been another crazy and not-so-great week for me. Seems like crazy and stressful is my new norm these days. Maybe sometime soon things will settle down and start looking up!!
This week I had jury duty. Excuse me, jury service, as the clerks at the court kept emphasizing. I really wasn't there very long - just 1/2 the day on Monday, most of the day Tuesday, and a 1/2 day on Wednesday. Thankfully, the judge released us after that. But let me tell you, it was torturous!! There were at least 50 potential jurors crammed into the jury pool room, which was tiny. We were sitting in rows of chairs that were too close together to have any walking room between aisles, and each chair touched the one next to it, so you had no personal space. But the worst part was we weren't allowed to leave the room at all unless the judge gave us a break to stretch our legs. Which actually only happened once during those 3 days. The room had no windows. It did have a bathroom, a drink machine, and a snack machine. Oh, and a water fountain. But you couldn't even stand up without being on top of another person, so I just sat in my chair. Thankfully, I had purchased a book on my Kindle for the week, so I was able to get lost in that story most of the time. I was a little disappointed that I'd sat there all that time and never got to see a trial. But the judge released us on Wednesday and said he wouldn't need a jury at all this week. I was glad to be done, though!!
Monday was particularly stressful. Of course I knew I had jury duty (I had to be there at 1pm, so I went to work first), so I spent the first part of the day preparing at the office in case I got put on a case. I kind of hate not knowin what to expect day to day with my job. I like variety, sure, but not knowing if I would even be there? No thanks. Too stressful. Probably wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't just me and the boss here. But there's no one to do my job if I'm not here.
The other thing that made Monday stressful was being worried over C. My MIL and I decided that C probably needed to see a doctor. We were afraid she had another UTI. For the past 2 weeks, her potty training has been terrible. I just attributed it to all the stress we've dealt with lately, a growth spurt, general toddlerness, whatever. But last week she started sayin "my pee pee hurts" occasionally. Not while she was peeing, though, just randomly. Monday she woke up at 5:30am and told me it hurt and that she needed medicine. So I called her doctor when I got to work and the nurse said she needed to be seen. Apparently toddlers can have a UTI without a fever, which I didn't know. My MIL got a urine sample at home, bless her, so C wouldn't have to be cathed (and I knew she wouldn't go in their potty).
Well, the doctor looked at C's urine and said it looked fine. They did a culture just to be sure, but she didn't have a UTI, thankfully. She did, however, have vaginitis. That's kinda like a yeast infection, but a different bacteria. (And from what I understand, really young girls can't get yeast infections - yeast rashes, yes, but that's totally different.) The doctor said it was probably from her being on antibiotics last month (ear infection). She gave us some Nystatin cream and sent us on our way.
The very next day, C felt better. And I am happy to say she hasn't had an accident in THREE DAYS!!! So I guess the infection was making her uncomfortable when she had to pee, so she held it in as long as possible, then wasn't able to get to the potty in time. I'm so glad I trusted my gut and took her to the doctor, even though she wasn't acting "sick." Always trust your Mama Instincts!!!
As for the rest of the week, this year my body has decided it is allergic to pollen. Like most of the rest of the world. I have some serious allergies, but pollen has never bothered me, in all my 30 years. This year, however, is a different story. I sneezed a few times Wednesday night, and immediately my throat was sore. And it still is. I'm not congested or anything, but I just have that "allergy feeling," as I say. Ugh. All I want to do is sleep, though of course that doesn't happen.
I think my true problem is I just need a vacation. There's been a lot on my plate for a while now, and we normally take a trip in February for our anniversary. We put it off this year since DH's grandma was so sick in the hospital. Then we put it off because my uncle was so sick, and then he died. DH's grandma is still in a rehab facility, and she's started having seizures again, and some days she doesn't recognize people and talks out of her head. She's not in danger of passing away, but the family is stressed because who knows if she will ever be able to take care of herself again. And now DH has the flowers in for his business, plus the chicks, so he's super busy taking care of all that and selling it. *sigh* We had hoped to get away this month, but there is something going on almost every weekend, so we never planned anything. Maybe next month...
I did kind of feel like I had a vacation day last Saturday. C and I spent the whole day just playing and having fun. We were outside most of the day. I didn't take my DSLR out with me because I just wanted to enjoy life and not worry about taking a perfect picture. I did bring my iPhone and got some snapshots with it...
Sunday was a busy day. We went to church, then had a quick lunch. DH left to go to the livestock sale with a friend, and C and I went with my mama to TWO baby showers. We had a great time, but C missed her nap. After the second shower, we took C on a walk around Mama's house. Mama's neighbor raises goats and C got to meet the baby that they are bottle feeding...
She loved that! After that, we went to my cousin's house, where my brother was helping to build a deck. We stayed there a while because my 3 year old cousin was there, and her and C had a ball running around the yard together.
C was passed out by 8 that night, which is extremely rare for her. DH and I were able to have the night off, so to speak! We watched the ACM awards and just enjoyed time alone.
I wish I could go back in time to last weekend. Though I am looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow, I am taking C to my mama's church with some friends. They have a little playground there that's fenced in (so the babies can wander around and we don't have to worry about them wandering off!) and the babies love to play in there. Its not public, so it'll be nice and quiet. And that is the only thing I have planned for the entire weekend. I might have to ask DH if we can take a day trip Sunday and just get away......! We'll see. ( ;
I'll leave you with one more image. I love this time of year because all the flowers and starting to come out. My hasta around the flower beds have come back and are growing rapidly. My amaryllis are going to be gorgeous when they bloom - there are a TON of bulbs now. The irises have multiplied, too. My gerbera daisies are coming back up. My azaleas are starting to bloom. My tulip tree is blooming and greening up. I just love it!! Last weekend I put 2 pots of geraniums on the porch and hung up 2 hanging baskets. One is a red portulaca (though I don't have a picture of it yet), and the other is a basket of 3 different flowers. Petunia is one of them, but don't ask me what the other 2 are, haha. I love it, though! Its gorgeous hanging on my porch. Don't you agree? ( :
This week I had jury duty. Excuse me, jury service, as the clerks at the court kept emphasizing. I really wasn't there very long - just 1/2 the day on Monday, most of the day Tuesday, and a 1/2 day on Wednesday. Thankfully, the judge released us after that. But let me tell you, it was torturous!! There were at least 50 potential jurors crammed into the jury pool room, which was tiny. We were sitting in rows of chairs that were too close together to have any walking room between aisles, and each chair touched the one next to it, so you had no personal space. But the worst part was we weren't allowed to leave the room at all unless the judge gave us a break to stretch our legs. Which actually only happened once during those 3 days. The room had no windows. It did have a bathroom, a drink machine, and a snack machine. Oh, and a water fountain. But you couldn't even stand up without being on top of another person, so I just sat in my chair. Thankfully, I had purchased a book on my Kindle for the week, so I was able to get lost in that story most of the time. I was a little disappointed that I'd sat there all that time and never got to see a trial. But the judge released us on Wednesday and said he wouldn't need a jury at all this week. I was glad to be done, though!!
Monday was particularly stressful. Of course I knew I had jury duty (I had to be there at 1pm, so I went to work first), so I spent the first part of the day preparing at the office in case I got put on a case. I kind of hate not knowin what to expect day to day with my job. I like variety, sure, but not knowing if I would even be there? No thanks. Too stressful. Probably wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't just me and the boss here. But there's no one to do my job if I'm not here.
The other thing that made Monday stressful was being worried over C. My MIL and I decided that C probably needed to see a doctor. We were afraid she had another UTI. For the past 2 weeks, her potty training has been terrible. I just attributed it to all the stress we've dealt with lately, a growth spurt, general toddlerness, whatever. But last week she started sayin "my pee pee hurts" occasionally. Not while she was peeing, though, just randomly. Monday she woke up at 5:30am and told me it hurt and that she needed medicine. So I called her doctor when I got to work and the nurse said she needed to be seen. Apparently toddlers can have a UTI without a fever, which I didn't know. My MIL got a urine sample at home, bless her, so C wouldn't have to be cathed (and I knew she wouldn't go in their potty).
Well, the doctor looked at C's urine and said it looked fine. They did a culture just to be sure, but she didn't have a UTI, thankfully. She did, however, have vaginitis. That's kinda like a yeast infection, but a different bacteria. (And from what I understand, really young girls can't get yeast infections - yeast rashes, yes, but that's totally different.) The doctor said it was probably from her being on antibiotics last month (ear infection). She gave us some Nystatin cream and sent us on our way.
The very next day, C felt better. And I am happy to say she hasn't had an accident in THREE DAYS!!! So I guess the infection was making her uncomfortable when she had to pee, so she held it in as long as possible, then wasn't able to get to the potty in time. I'm so glad I trusted my gut and took her to the doctor, even though she wasn't acting "sick." Always trust your Mama Instincts!!!
As for the rest of the week, this year my body has decided it is allergic to pollen. Like most of the rest of the world. I have some serious allergies, but pollen has never bothered me, in all my 30 years. This year, however, is a different story. I sneezed a few times Wednesday night, and immediately my throat was sore. And it still is. I'm not congested or anything, but I just have that "allergy feeling," as I say. Ugh. All I want to do is sleep, though of course that doesn't happen.
I think my true problem is I just need a vacation. There's been a lot on my plate for a while now, and we normally take a trip in February for our anniversary. We put it off this year since DH's grandma was so sick in the hospital. Then we put it off because my uncle was so sick, and then he died. DH's grandma is still in a rehab facility, and she's started having seizures again, and some days she doesn't recognize people and talks out of her head. She's not in danger of passing away, but the family is stressed because who knows if she will ever be able to take care of herself again. And now DH has the flowers in for his business, plus the chicks, so he's super busy taking care of all that and selling it. *sigh* We had hoped to get away this month, but there is something going on almost every weekend, so we never planned anything. Maybe next month...
I did kind of feel like I had a vacation day last Saturday. C and I spent the whole day just playing and having fun. We were outside most of the day. I didn't take my DSLR out with me because I just wanted to enjoy life and not worry about taking a perfect picture. I did bring my iPhone and got some snapshots with it...
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| Still can't reach the pedals enough to go anywhere, but she tries! |
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| DH took this one. C's first picnic! She had a blast. |
C was passed out by 8 that night, which is extremely rare for her. DH and I were able to have the night off, so to speak! We watched the ACM awards and just enjoyed time alone.
I wish I could go back in time to last weekend. Though I am looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow, I am taking C to my mama's church with some friends. They have a little playground there that's fenced in (so the babies can wander around and we don't have to worry about them wandering off!) and the babies love to play in there. Its not public, so it'll be nice and quiet. And that is the only thing I have planned for the entire weekend. I might have to ask DH if we can take a day trip Sunday and just get away......! We'll see. ( ;
I'll leave you with one more image. I love this time of year because all the flowers and starting to come out. My hasta around the flower beds have come back and are growing rapidly. My amaryllis are going to be gorgeous when they bloom - there are a TON of bulbs now. The irises have multiplied, too. My gerbera daisies are coming back up. My azaleas are starting to bloom. My tulip tree is blooming and greening up. I just love it!! Last weekend I put 2 pots of geraniums on the porch and hung up 2 hanging baskets. One is a red portulaca (though I don't have a picture of it yet), and the other is a basket of 3 different flowers. Petunia is one of them, but don't ask me what the other 2 are, haha. I love it, though! Its gorgeous hanging on my porch. Don't you agree? ( :
2.08.2013
Confessions
I have stayed away from blogging this week on purpose. I have a wonderful life that is full of blessings (I am extremely rich, and I don't mean in a monetary way!), but occasionally I get bogged down and discouraged by life. I'm sure everyone feels that way sometimes. Nothing major even has to happen, its just some mornings I wake up and feel like a complete failure, like I can't do anything right. Please tell me I'm not alone in these feelings!
Sometimes this "funk" lasts for days. I try to remember that God hasn't forgotten about me, that He still loves me no matter what and is there for me. But sometimes I am weak. I give in to the "funk" and let myself be in a foul mood and think negative thoughts. And then, He always does something to open my eyes to my sin, something that lifts me right out of the funk and back into His arms.
Its normally nothing big. Actually, sometimes I have to be looking really hard to see His hand at work! Then sometimes He'll practically slap me in the face with it.
Lately, He's been speaking to me through books. Last month, He led me to read a book that was life-changing. I'm working on a post about it, but it was so profound to me and has impacted me so deeply that I find I have a hard time putting my thoughts into written words. I want to make sure I have it right in my head before I put it to paper (er, computer).
This month, God has led me to another book. Actually, I was supposed to finish it last month (its part of the book club I'm participating in this year). But I had some days of the "funk" and I resisted reading what He laid in front of me. I knew it was for my own good, but I resisted anyway.
The other night, I decided to try to crawl out of the funk and I made myself read from this book again. Wow. Its like it was written for me, at this moment in my life. Again, I can't say much about it because I need to sort it out in my head first. I haven't finished the book yet anyway. But, thank GOD, I am out of the funk once again. As always, God was there for me and pulled me through.
You'd think eventually that wouldn't be necessary, that I'd learn not to let myself get to that point, huh? But no, I know I will always need Him to help me. I am weak and I am a sinner. But He has proven that with Him I can be anything. ( :
So I was avoiding blogging because I thought to myself, why blog about all these happy things when I don't feel happy right now? When I don't have everything together or figured out? Well, that's kind of the point of blogging for me. I don't have it all figured out. I don't have it all together. I'm working on it. I might not ever get there, but I am a work in progress. I've decided I don't need to have it together to be a blogger. I can be imperfect (human) and still blog about my life. And maybe this is better, because now I can share the story of how God works on me and in my life to make me more what He wants me to be.
Hopefully soon I'll have a chance to sort out my thoughts on these two books so that I can blog about them. I also have a long list of projects I want to tackle around the house. In the meantime, here's a picture that my husband took last night. C wanted to help me wash dishes. I let her rinse the easy items. ( :
Ain't she cute in her big girl panties? Potty training is going really well!!! ( :
Sometimes this "funk" lasts for days. I try to remember that God hasn't forgotten about me, that He still loves me no matter what and is there for me. But sometimes I am weak. I give in to the "funk" and let myself be in a foul mood and think negative thoughts. And then, He always does something to open my eyes to my sin, something that lifts me right out of the funk and back into His arms.
Its normally nothing big. Actually, sometimes I have to be looking really hard to see His hand at work! Then sometimes He'll practically slap me in the face with it.
Lately, He's been speaking to me through books. Last month, He led me to read a book that was life-changing. I'm working on a post about it, but it was so profound to me and has impacted me so deeply that I find I have a hard time putting my thoughts into written words. I want to make sure I have it right in my head before I put it to paper (er, computer).
This month, God has led me to another book. Actually, I was supposed to finish it last month (its part of the book club I'm participating in this year). But I had some days of the "funk" and I resisted reading what He laid in front of me. I knew it was for my own good, but I resisted anyway.
The other night, I decided to try to crawl out of the funk and I made myself read from this book again. Wow. Its like it was written for me, at this moment in my life. Again, I can't say much about it because I need to sort it out in my head first. I haven't finished the book yet anyway. But, thank GOD, I am out of the funk once again. As always, God was there for me and pulled me through.
You'd think eventually that wouldn't be necessary, that I'd learn not to let myself get to that point, huh? But no, I know I will always need Him to help me. I am weak and I am a sinner. But He has proven that with Him I can be anything. ( :
So I was avoiding blogging because I thought to myself, why blog about all these happy things when I don't feel happy right now? When I don't have everything together or figured out? Well, that's kind of the point of blogging for me. I don't have it all figured out. I don't have it all together. I'm working on it. I might not ever get there, but I am a work in progress. I've decided I don't need to have it together to be a blogger. I can be imperfect (human) and still blog about my life. And maybe this is better, because now I can share the story of how God works on me and in my life to make me more what He wants me to be.
Hopefully soon I'll have a chance to sort out my thoughts on these two books so that I can blog about them. I also have a long list of projects I want to tackle around the house. In the meantime, here's a picture that my husband took last night. C wanted to help me wash dishes. I let her rinse the easy items. ( :
Ain't she cute in her big girl panties? Potty training is going really well!!! ( :
1.28.2013
Potty Training Update!
I think the last time I blogged about our adventures in potty training, C wasn't too thrilled with the idea. Last summer, she was well on her way to being potty trained - I could take her out of the house in big girl panties and she'd do really well. Then suddenly, she decided the potty was terrifying. For months she wouldn't go near it. Nothing happened to her on the potty, so I'm not sure where the fear came from, but you know how kids are, especially toddlers! Kind of like the weather in NC - if you don't like what you're getting, wait 5 minutes!! (Speaking of that, we had sleet/freezing rain/snow on Friday, today its 39 degrees, and in a few days its supposed to be in the 70s!)
Thankfully, about a month ago C decided she does, in fact, like the potty, and doing her business in it. My mother-in-law had her in big girl panties for a large portion of every day, though not all day, and she was having 2-3 accidents a day. But she was trying! At home, however, she just wasn't into the potty. I could get her to pee in the potty right before her bath, but that's about it. We kept trying, though, since she was interested during the day.
About 2 weeks ago, a rash popped up on her hiney (not in the typical diaper rash area, on her butt cheek). It looked like a bug bite, so I didn't think much of it until it started itching her a few days later. Well, the area got bigger, redder, and started to look raised up. I finally realized it was probably yeast and started treating her with Lomitrin (athlete's foot/fungal cream). She had a rash similar to this when she was younger and the Lomitrin cleared it right up. Unfortunately, that didn't happen this time. I've had my mother-in-law keep C out of diapers as much as possible since letting the rash get air seems to really help more than anything.
Thankfully, C has really taken to potty training now. Some days she doesn't have any accidents! She only had 2 all weekend with me, and one was completely my fault (she told me she had to pee, but I thought I could wash her hands first - we were eating lunch. She tried to hold it but couldn't!). I even took her to church in panties yesterday! We were there 2 hours and used the potty 3 times, but that's okay. Her bladder is small. ( : At a wedding shower yesterday, she used the potty I think 4 times in 2 hours. Whatever it takes!
I think she's a ways from being able to go without a diaper at naptime and definitely overnight, but this is a really good start! Yesterday she was even telling me when she had to go potty, as opposed to me having to ask her every 10 minutes. Progress!!
As for her rash....we're going to the doctor tomorrow for her 2 year checkup, so I'll definitely have him look at it. Yesterday I bought some Monistat and started putting that on it. I also started her on probiotics. 2 hours after using Monistat on the rash, it looked a LOT better and wasn't itching her anymore. Last night, though, she obviously slept in a diaper, and this morning it looked terrible again. :( Tonight this mama might just have to be brave and let that baby sleep in panties! I'm sure if its not better by tomorrow the doctor will give her a prescription.
I did try home remedies, too, in case anyone is interested. Apple cider vinegar seemed to irritate the rash more (which is odd because everything I read said ACV was very soothing to a yeast rash). Soaking her in baking soda didn't do a thing except relieve the itching while she was in the bath. I've cut out her bubble bath, and only use soap on her when its absolutely necessary (its winter, she's not gettin that dirty every day), and have stopped washing her hair every day (so she's not always getting shampoo on her skin). I don't know how long probiotics take to work on yeast, but we just started those yesterday and I didn't expect an improvement overnight.
The diapers will have to be treated for yeast, too, or it will keep coming back. *sigh* Friday I got some soap nuts and washed the diapers in that on Saturday, but they need more than that. The health store in town was out of grape seed extract, which is what is supposed to help kill yeast in diapers. I found out this weekend, though, that tea tree oil does the same thing. And I found out today that Walgreen's carries TTO (its in the ethnic hair section for some reason), so I'm heading over there this afternoon. TTO + Oxiclean + soap nuts = hopefully bye-bye yeasties! Let us pray.
I hate that my baby has had to suffer through this terrible rash, but at the same time I'm tickled that she's really potty training!! :D
Thankfully, about a month ago C decided she does, in fact, like the potty, and doing her business in it. My mother-in-law had her in big girl panties for a large portion of every day, though not all day, and she was having 2-3 accidents a day. But she was trying! At home, however, she just wasn't into the potty. I could get her to pee in the potty right before her bath, but that's about it. We kept trying, though, since she was interested during the day.
About 2 weeks ago, a rash popped up on her hiney (not in the typical diaper rash area, on her butt cheek). It looked like a bug bite, so I didn't think much of it until it started itching her a few days later. Well, the area got bigger, redder, and started to look raised up. I finally realized it was probably yeast and started treating her with Lomitrin (athlete's foot/fungal cream). She had a rash similar to this when she was younger and the Lomitrin cleared it right up. Unfortunately, that didn't happen this time. I've had my mother-in-law keep C out of diapers as much as possible since letting the rash get air seems to really help more than anything.
Thankfully, C has really taken to potty training now. Some days she doesn't have any accidents! She only had 2 all weekend with me, and one was completely my fault (she told me she had to pee, but I thought I could wash her hands first - we were eating lunch. She tried to hold it but couldn't!). I even took her to church in panties yesterday! We were there 2 hours and used the potty 3 times, but that's okay. Her bladder is small. ( : At a wedding shower yesterday, she used the potty I think 4 times in 2 hours. Whatever it takes!
I think she's a ways from being able to go without a diaper at naptime and definitely overnight, but this is a really good start! Yesterday she was even telling me when she had to go potty, as opposed to me having to ask her every 10 minutes. Progress!!
As for her rash....we're going to the doctor tomorrow for her 2 year checkup, so I'll definitely have him look at it. Yesterday I bought some Monistat and started putting that on it. I also started her on probiotics. 2 hours after using Monistat on the rash, it looked a LOT better and wasn't itching her anymore. Last night, though, she obviously slept in a diaper, and this morning it looked terrible again. :( Tonight this mama might just have to be brave and let that baby sleep in panties! I'm sure if its not better by tomorrow the doctor will give her a prescription.
I did try home remedies, too, in case anyone is interested. Apple cider vinegar seemed to irritate the rash more (which is odd because everything I read said ACV was very soothing to a yeast rash). Soaking her in baking soda didn't do a thing except relieve the itching while she was in the bath. I've cut out her bubble bath, and only use soap on her when its absolutely necessary (its winter, she's not gettin that dirty every day), and have stopped washing her hair every day (so she's not always getting shampoo on her skin). I don't know how long probiotics take to work on yeast, but we just started those yesterday and I didn't expect an improvement overnight.
The diapers will have to be treated for yeast, too, or it will keep coming back. *sigh* Friday I got some soap nuts and washed the diapers in that on Saturday, but they need more than that. The health store in town was out of grape seed extract, which is what is supposed to help kill yeast in diapers. I found out this weekend, though, that tea tree oil does the same thing. And I found out today that Walgreen's carries TTO (its in the ethnic hair section for some reason), so I'm heading over there this afternoon. TTO + Oxiclean + soap nuts = hopefully bye-bye yeasties! Let us pray.
I hate that my baby has had to suffer through this terrible rash, but at the same time I'm tickled that she's really potty training!! :D
1.01.2013
A Fresh Start
I'm not one for making resolutions in a new year. I used to, but I realized that I never stuck to my resolutions, and always just ended up supremely disappointed in myself later in the year. So for years, I took the easy road and didn't resolve to make any changes or do anything special when the calendar flipped to a new year. Now I think that's pretty lazy. I think we need to set goals/resolutions for ourselves so we keep growing and don't get stuck.
I don't think its necessary to make resolutions in January, though. In October, I made some fall resolutions. I've done pretty well at keeping them: I made good on making memories with my daughter (we've done a lot of fun things with her recently, including an impromptu trip to the coast this past weekend, which I'll blog about later); I've done better about not being a lurker in the blog world (I have made an effort to post comments when I have a reaction to someone's blog post); I have spent more time with God (though not nearly as much as I need to - still working on that one); and I continued my efforts to organize the house. (That "resolution" actually came about earlier in 2012, so I've been at it for a while.) In fact, I did a little organization project just yesterday, which I'll blog about later (I say that a lot, huh? hehe).
The only fall resolution I haven't kept is to ride my horses more. I realized pretty quickly that it is still dark outside until pretty late in the morning. DH has to leave for work around 7:15, so if I'm gonna ride I have to do it and be back in the house by then. Well, it doesn't get light until about 6:45. That is not nearly enough time to ride and get the horses fed. I'm too chicken to ride before daylight around here. There are a lot of coyotes in our area and they really freak me out. They are not as scared of us humans as they should be, either. They come all in our yard after dark. I doubt one would actually attack me, but I don't like to take any chances. Last night when I was feeding the horses (after dark), a coyote was howling right beside the barn! I completely freaked out, ran to the house and made DH go out there with me with the gun. (Of course, the coyote had moved on by then.)
So, I'll get back to riding my horses more this spring. For now I'm just savoring what little time I do get to ride, and making the most of it. A few weekends ago, I hopped on Sunshine bareback and went down the road, to somewhere we've never been before. She was terrible that day, but it was still fun.
Moving on.
I'm considering 2013 to be my clean slate. I need a fresh start in several areas of my life. I'm not going to sit here and type up a huge list of things I want to accomplish or change about myself. I know that's too daunting for me. I've said many times I'm all about baby steps. ( :
Here's a few things I do want to accomplish/work towards/change this year:
~Potty train C. We're well on our way! She's been doing pretty well lately. In fact, she's in her big girl panties right now (watching Super Why on PBS while Mama gets some blogging done). Yesterday, she had 3 accidents, but I think that's pretty good. This weekend, she even pooped in the potty once! So I have no idea how long this process will take (we're certainly not doing the potty train in 3 days thing - way too stressful), but I know it will conclude this year!! And hopefully by the spring. Wouldn't that be wonderful??
~Continue to organize the house. My next project will be to tackle C's toys. She's 2 now, and we've still got her newborn and infant toys in the house, as well as a ton of toys she just doesn't care for. I'm not getting rid of anything (hopefully one day we'll have another child), but my plan is to buy storage bins so they can go out in the shop.
I also really want to work on the office. Every few months, I work in there (mainly on my desk) and get everything looking neat and organized, but it doesn't take long to get junky again. DH is actually really good about keeping his desk organized. But the office tends to be our place to stash random things that don't really have a home elsewhere in the house. Right now, its overflowing with extra boxes and wrapping paper from Christmas. And I mean overflowing. I'll have to take a "before" picture when I tackle that room. Its terrible. My plan is to ditch my desk. I haven't used it (other than to store junk on) since I completed my graduate degree. And that was in the summer of 2011. I do need a spot to store my laptop, though, so I'll probably get a small bookcase or something like that. Or maybe a small table. We'll see. DH and I have talked about that room becoming a nursery if we do have another baby, but that leaves the problem of where will we have an office. DH needs an office space since that's where he does all the bill paying and manages his business (he works a full-time job and has a side business as well). And there's no where else in this house for an office space. Hopefully one day we can build a house....!
There are other projects that fall under the "house organization" label that I want to tackle. But those two are the biggies, the ones that I know will make the most difference around here. Wish me luck!!
~I also want to get back to meal planning. I did that for a few months in 2012, and it was great. I didn't have a specific method, I just sat down whenever I had a moment and thought about what I could cook for supper the next few days. Sometimes I'd do a week or 2 at a time, sometimes I'd do a whole month. It really made nights much less stressful for me. I hate coming home from work, looking into the fridge, freezer, and pantry and thinking What in the world am I gonna cook tonight?! So I want to get back into meal planning. And do it better. Meaning, I want to grocery shop with meal planning in mind. I haven't decided which method I want to use yet, but I'll blog about it when I figure it out.
~I want to make a budget - and stick to it. I've been meaning to do this one for a while. But its time. I'm conscious about where I spend money, but it seems like it always runs out faster than I think it should. I don't mean I'm gonna cut out all my "extra" purchases - I regularly buy books for my Kindle on Amazon, and random things for C (though I usually shop the thrift store for her). I just want to know exactly how much I can spend each week/month on the extra things. And this will help me be able to finally start putting some money into my savings account.
~Along those lines, I want to start paying more towards my student loans. If I keep going like I am, I will have them paid off in 2020 I believe. That's a really long time, considering I got my bachelor's in 2006 and my master's in 2011. But I'm only making minimum payments. I hope to tackle them one at a time, starting with the smallest loan. I keep reading about the "snowball effect" and how great it is. So once I get my budget worked out, I'll start making more payments on that smallest loan.
~~~~~
My list is short, but I know that if I do these few things, my life will drastically change. Of course, I want to continue to do things like make memories with my daughter and husband, keep learning more about cooking, etc. Actually, I should probably go back up there and bullet point another goal: go on more dates with my husband this year!!
For now, its time to go clean up the Cheerios C just spilled all over the floor, then spend the rest of the day having fun with her. Its chilly and rainy here, so we're probably stuck inside all day, and I don't have anything planned. I got all my cleaning done over the weekend so I could spend today just enjoying her. Here we go!
Happy 2013 everyone! May this be our best yet!!! ( :
I don't think its necessary to make resolutions in January, though. In October, I made some fall resolutions. I've done pretty well at keeping them: I made good on making memories with my daughter (we've done a lot of fun things with her recently, including an impromptu trip to the coast this past weekend, which I'll blog about later); I've done better about not being a lurker in the blog world (I have made an effort to post comments when I have a reaction to someone's blog post); I have spent more time with God (though not nearly as much as I need to - still working on that one); and I continued my efforts to organize the house. (That "resolution" actually came about earlier in 2012, so I've been at it for a while.) In fact, I did a little organization project just yesterday, which I'll blog about later (I say that a lot, huh? hehe).
The only fall resolution I haven't kept is to ride my horses more. I realized pretty quickly that it is still dark outside until pretty late in the morning. DH has to leave for work around 7:15, so if I'm gonna ride I have to do it and be back in the house by then. Well, it doesn't get light until about 6:45. That is not nearly enough time to ride and get the horses fed. I'm too chicken to ride before daylight around here. There are a lot of coyotes in our area and they really freak me out. They are not as scared of us humans as they should be, either. They come all in our yard after dark. I doubt one would actually attack me, but I don't like to take any chances. Last night when I was feeding the horses (after dark), a coyote was howling right beside the barn! I completely freaked out, ran to the house and made DH go out there with me with the gun. (Of course, the coyote had moved on by then.)
So, I'll get back to riding my horses more this spring. For now I'm just savoring what little time I do get to ride, and making the most of it. A few weekends ago, I hopped on Sunshine bareback and went down the road, to somewhere we've never been before. She was terrible that day, but it was still fun.
Moving on.
I'm considering 2013 to be my clean slate. I need a fresh start in several areas of my life. I'm not going to sit here and type up a huge list of things I want to accomplish or change about myself. I know that's too daunting for me. I've said many times I'm all about baby steps. ( :
Here's a few things I do want to accomplish/work towards/change this year:
~Potty train C. We're well on our way! She's been doing pretty well lately. In fact, she's in her big girl panties right now (watching Super Why on PBS while Mama gets some blogging done). Yesterday, she had 3 accidents, but I think that's pretty good. This weekend, she even pooped in the potty once! So I have no idea how long this process will take (we're certainly not doing the potty train in 3 days thing - way too stressful), but I know it will conclude this year!! And hopefully by the spring. Wouldn't that be wonderful??
~Continue to organize the house. My next project will be to tackle C's toys. She's 2 now, and we've still got her newborn and infant toys in the house, as well as a ton of toys she just doesn't care for. I'm not getting rid of anything (hopefully one day we'll have another child), but my plan is to buy storage bins so they can go out in the shop.
I also really want to work on the office. Every few months, I work in there (mainly on my desk) and get everything looking neat and organized, but it doesn't take long to get junky again. DH is actually really good about keeping his desk organized. But the office tends to be our place to stash random things that don't really have a home elsewhere in the house. Right now, its overflowing with extra boxes and wrapping paper from Christmas. And I mean overflowing. I'll have to take a "before" picture when I tackle that room. Its terrible. My plan is to ditch my desk. I haven't used it (other than to store junk on) since I completed my graduate degree. And that was in the summer of 2011. I do need a spot to store my laptop, though, so I'll probably get a small bookcase or something like that. Or maybe a small table. We'll see. DH and I have talked about that room becoming a nursery if we do have another baby, but that leaves the problem of where will we have an office. DH needs an office space since that's where he does all the bill paying and manages his business (he works a full-time job and has a side business as well). And there's no where else in this house for an office space. Hopefully one day we can build a house....!
There are other projects that fall under the "house organization" label that I want to tackle. But those two are the biggies, the ones that I know will make the most difference around here. Wish me luck!!
~I also want to get back to meal planning. I did that for a few months in 2012, and it was great. I didn't have a specific method, I just sat down whenever I had a moment and thought about what I could cook for supper the next few days. Sometimes I'd do a week or 2 at a time, sometimes I'd do a whole month. It really made nights much less stressful for me. I hate coming home from work, looking into the fridge, freezer, and pantry and thinking What in the world am I gonna cook tonight?! So I want to get back into meal planning. And do it better. Meaning, I want to grocery shop with meal planning in mind. I haven't decided which method I want to use yet, but I'll blog about it when I figure it out.
~I want to make a budget - and stick to it. I've been meaning to do this one for a while. But its time. I'm conscious about where I spend money, but it seems like it always runs out faster than I think it should. I don't mean I'm gonna cut out all my "extra" purchases - I regularly buy books for my Kindle on Amazon, and random things for C (though I usually shop the thrift store for her). I just want to know exactly how much I can spend each week/month on the extra things. And this will help me be able to finally start putting some money into my savings account.
~Along those lines, I want to start paying more towards my student loans. If I keep going like I am, I will have them paid off in 2020 I believe. That's a really long time, considering I got my bachelor's in 2006 and my master's in 2011. But I'm only making minimum payments. I hope to tackle them one at a time, starting with the smallest loan. I keep reading about the "snowball effect" and how great it is. So once I get my budget worked out, I'll start making more payments on that smallest loan.
~~~~~
My list is short, but I know that if I do these few things, my life will drastically change. Of course, I want to continue to do things like make memories with my daughter and husband, keep learning more about cooking, etc. Actually, I should probably go back up there and bullet point another goal: go on more dates with my husband this year!!
For now, its time to go clean up the Cheerios C just spilled all over the floor, then spend the rest of the day having fun with her. Its chilly and rainy here, so we're probably stuck inside all day, and I don't have anything planned. I got all my cleaning done over the weekend so I could spend today just enjoying her. Here we go!
Happy 2013 everyone! May this be our best yet!!! ( :
9.26.2012
Adventures in Potty Training
One of the many benefits of cloth diapering that I've heard from the beginning of my journey with cloth was that cloth-diapered babies tend to potty train faster. That certainly wasn't a deciding factor for me, but it was a nice little extra. Even though we wouldn't be continuously buying diapers for C, I knew it would be nice to have her out of diapers sooner. After diapering a child for 21 months, I can say that any time she's ready to ditch the diapers will be fine with me!
Not that its hard work, or even an inconvenience. Not really. Its just something I do. But it sure would be nice to stop doing it! Of course, once the diapers come off, we'll be rushing to the potty a zillion times a day (and at night, I'm sure). But C is starting to hate the changing table. Or anywhere that her diaper gets changed, actually. She used to love diaper changes, but these days she seems to think changing her diaper is the equivalent of getting vaccinations at the pediatrician's office. :/
C technically started potty training in May, when she was 17 months. That was the first time she peed in the potty. She's always came into the bathroom with me and watched me do my business. (Its easier to let her follow me rather than trying to rush while she's alone in another room! Plus I figured she'd learn by observing, and she did.) Earlier this year, I noticed that every time I put her in the tub she'd pee while the water was running. Then I'd have to drain the tub and fill it up - cause I'm not bathing my baby in pee water (even if pee is sterile)! So I got her a special potty seat (it goes on top of the regular seat, and the hole is smaller so she doesn't feel like she's falling in) with Sesame Street characters on it, and started sitting her up there every night while I started her bath. Eventually she figured out she was supposed to pee in there.
It went great for a while, then we hit a road block. So I invented the Pee Pee Song. From what I've heard, all mothers sing some variation of a pee pee song while potty training. But mine's more modern. Take that Luke Bryan song "Shake It For Me." Got that tune in your head? Now replace the lyrics of the chorus with this:
Pee pee, girl, pee pee for me, girl, pee pee for me, girl, pee pee for me!
Its a huge hit in our house. (haha) Most of the time I compliment the song with my awesome dance moves. Too bad I can't share those on the blog! Anyway, C gets a kick out of my performance, and that usually does the trick. Eventually, she started singing along with me.
We did the peeing-in-the-potty-only-before-baths thing for a while, then I realized that she could probably pee in the potty at other times, too. (I know, I'm brilliant. I mean, I do have a master's degree!) I told my mother-in-law about our progress at home with the potty, and she immediately jumped on board. She purchased C a bunch of training panties. Genius! I had been looking for weeks at my favorite cloth diaper store for cloth training pants. They are so expensive its ridiculous. And most of them are super thick like diapers. Which is great for accidents, but they seem to really absorb, which seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me. I purchased a few different ones, and ended up hating them. My mother-in-law went to good ol' WalMart and bought Gerber training pants. She knew I didn't want to go the Pull-Ups route (waaaaayy too expensive and we all know how I feel about disposable diapers!). These Gerber panties are basically underwear that are a little thicker than regular undies. They absorb just a little pee, enough to keep it from making a humongous mess. But not enough so that C can't feel it.
My MIL (mother-in-law) got lucky and was able to find some girlie prints at WalMart and K-Mart. Of course, when I went all I could find were boy prints or plain white ones - yawn. C wears a size 2T in the panties, and apparently they don't make much of that size. I guess because its uncommon for a child that size to potty train? Who knows.
Anyway, we had great success for a long while with the training pants. C slept in a diaper, I put a fresh diaper on her in the morning, and once she got to her grandma's she was in training pants all day except for naps (though she usually stayed dry during naps). Once I got home from work, I'd put training pants on her until bath time. Eventually, I got brave and started traveling with her in training pants. Only short drives, but still. She was very good about telling me when she had to use the potty, especially if we were somewhere other than home. I guess its more fun to a toddler to use other people's toilets? Yuck.
C had even started pooping in the potty! Not consistently, but she was getting the idea. During all this time, my MIL and I decided we weren't going to rush C at all. If she was 3 then we'd be pushing the potty thing, but since she's not even 2, we figure if it happens, great, if not, okay. Some days she doesn't like the potty at all. We just take it in stride. She does get rewards if she uses the potty. Usually a sticker, sometimes a treat. But I wouldn't say we bribe her. We don't say "you can't have this until you pee in the potty." But if we ask her if she wants to pee in the potty and she does, she gets a reward. (Not every time, though! Sometimes she just gets praise and a high-five.) C is very proud of herself when she uses the potty. She hasn't gotten the hang of wiping yet, but she tries. And she can't quite pull her pants up and down on her own, but she helps.
Well, lately, C's not really interested in the potty. Maybe its because she's teething, or because she's been sick, or because we're not pushing it. Who knows. I think my MIL still keeps her in panties some during the day, but I haven't asked lately. I still ask her to pee before her bath, but most days after work if I ask "do you want to pee in the potty?" and she says no, I drop it. And most of the time lately she says no. No big deal.
I didn't really expect her to be completely potty trained by the time she's 2, or anything like that. At first, I was confused as to why she seemed to be regressing in this area. But then I read that its completely normal. She'll get it straight, eventually. This time next year, if she's still in diapers most of the time, we'll have to start really working hard on it. But for now, we're just letting C set her own pace with this.
That's pretty much how I've done this whole mothering thing. I've listened to my baby from day 1, and I've gone with my instincts. So far, its worked for us. People told me to get her out of our room long before I did (she was 5 months when I moved her from the bassinet beside our bed to the crib in her room), people told me to get her used to a bottle long before I did, people told me to start her on solids long before she let me know she was ready (she tasted solids at 6 months but didn't eat them regularly until 9 months), people have been telling me to wean her already for almost a year now. And when people find out I still rock her to sleep every night and at every nap time, they say I should be able to lay her down and she put herself to sleep. Well, what C tells me is almost always the complete opposite of what everyone else says. She knows what she needs, I just have to listen to her and ignore everyone else. She's only gonna be a baby once in her life; why rush her to grow up? She will when the time is right. ( :
Not that its hard work, or even an inconvenience. Not really. Its just something I do. But it sure would be nice to stop doing it! Of course, once the diapers come off, we'll be rushing to the potty a zillion times a day (and at night, I'm sure). But C is starting to hate the changing table. Or anywhere that her diaper gets changed, actually. She used to love diaper changes, but these days she seems to think changing her diaper is the equivalent of getting vaccinations at the pediatrician's office. :/
C technically started potty training in May, when she was 17 months. That was the first time she peed in the potty. She's always came into the bathroom with me and watched me do my business. (Its easier to let her follow me rather than trying to rush while she's alone in another room! Plus I figured she'd learn by observing, and she did.) Earlier this year, I noticed that every time I put her in the tub she'd pee while the water was running. Then I'd have to drain the tub and fill it up - cause I'm not bathing my baby in pee water (even if pee is sterile)! So I got her a special potty seat (it goes on top of the regular seat, and the hole is smaller so she doesn't feel like she's falling in) with Sesame Street characters on it, and started sitting her up there every night while I started her bath. Eventually she figured out she was supposed to pee in there.
It went great for a while, then we hit a road block. So I invented the Pee Pee Song. From what I've heard, all mothers sing some variation of a pee pee song while potty training. But mine's more modern. Take that Luke Bryan song "Shake It For Me." Got that tune in your head? Now replace the lyrics of the chorus with this:
Pee pee, girl, pee pee for me, girl, pee pee for me, girl, pee pee for me!
Its a huge hit in our house. (haha) Most of the time I compliment the song with my awesome dance moves. Too bad I can't share those on the blog! Anyway, C gets a kick out of my performance, and that usually does the trick. Eventually, she started singing along with me.
We did the peeing-in-the-potty-only-before-baths thing for a while, then I realized that she could probably pee in the potty at other times, too. (I know, I'm brilliant. I mean, I do have a master's degree!) I told my mother-in-law about our progress at home with the potty, and she immediately jumped on board. She purchased C a bunch of training panties. Genius! I had been looking for weeks at my favorite cloth diaper store for cloth training pants. They are so expensive its ridiculous. And most of them are super thick like diapers. Which is great for accidents, but they seem to really absorb, which seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me. I purchased a few different ones, and ended up hating them. My mother-in-law went to good ol' WalMart and bought Gerber training pants. She knew I didn't want to go the Pull-Ups route (waaaaayy too expensive and we all know how I feel about disposable diapers!). These Gerber panties are basically underwear that are a little thicker than regular undies. They absorb just a little pee, enough to keep it from making a humongous mess. But not enough so that C can't feel it.
My MIL (mother-in-law) got lucky and was able to find some girlie prints at WalMart and K-Mart. Of course, when I went all I could find were boy prints or plain white ones - yawn. C wears a size 2T in the panties, and apparently they don't make much of that size. I guess because its uncommon for a child that size to potty train? Who knows.
Anyway, we had great success for a long while with the training pants. C slept in a diaper, I put a fresh diaper on her in the morning, and once she got to her grandma's she was in training pants all day except for naps (though she usually stayed dry during naps). Once I got home from work, I'd put training pants on her until bath time. Eventually, I got brave and started traveling with her in training pants. Only short drives, but still. She was very good about telling me when she had to use the potty, especially if we were somewhere other than home. I guess its more fun to a toddler to use other people's toilets? Yuck.
C had even started pooping in the potty! Not consistently, but she was getting the idea. During all this time, my MIL and I decided we weren't going to rush C at all. If she was 3 then we'd be pushing the potty thing, but since she's not even 2, we figure if it happens, great, if not, okay. Some days she doesn't like the potty at all. We just take it in stride. She does get rewards if she uses the potty. Usually a sticker, sometimes a treat. But I wouldn't say we bribe her. We don't say "you can't have this until you pee in the potty." But if we ask her if she wants to pee in the potty and she does, she gets a reward. (Not every time, though! Sometimes she just gets praise and a high-five.) C is very proud of herself when she uses the potty. She hasn't gotten the hang of wiping yet, but she tries. And she can't quite pull her pants up and down on her own, but she helps.
Well, lately, C's not really interested in the potty. Maybe its because she's teething, or because she's been sick, or because we're not pushing it. Who knows. I think my MIL still keeps her in panties some during the day, but I haven't asked lately. I still ask her to pee before her bath, but most days after work if I ask "do you want to pee in the potty?" and she says no, I drop it. And most of the time lately she says no. No big deal.
I didn't really expect her to be completely potty trained by the time she's 2, or anything like that. At first, I was confused as to why she seemed to be regressing in this area. But then I read that its completely normal. She'll get it straight, eventually. This time next year, if she's still in diapers most of the time, we'll have to start really working hard on it. But for now, we're just letting C set her own pace with this.
That's pretty much how I've done this whole mothering thing. I've listened to my baby from day 1, and I've gone with my instincts. So far, its worked for us. People told me to get her out of our room long before I did (she was 5 months when I moved her from the bassinet beside our bed to the crib in her room), people told me to get her used to a bottle long before I did, people told me to start her on solids long before she let me know she was ready (she tasted solids at 6 months but didn't eat them regularly until 9 months), people have been telling me to wean her already for almost a year now. And when people find out I still rock her to sleep every night and at every nap time, they say I should be able to lay her down and she put herself to sleep. Well, what C tells me is almost always the complete opposite of what everyone else says. She knows what she needs, I just have to listen to her and ignore everyone else. She's only gonna be a baby once in her life; why rush her to grow up? She will when the time is right. ( :
8.27.2012
Productive weekend!
Last Friday, I made a short list of some things I wanted to accomplish over the weekend. A list in addition to my usual cleaning and clothes washing. I'm happy to say I got through almost the whole list! One thing I didn't get to was to try a recipe (like mashed potatoes) using no milk or the almond milk I bought Friday. I ran out of time before supper Saturday night, and we ate out last night. But its still on my list for this week to try. I've been watchin DH and C eat mashed potatoes for the past 2 weeks, and I want some!
Another thing on my list was to bake something sweet and dairy free. Mission accomplished! I found a great recipe for vegan cupcakes. Apparently, its hard to find straight dairy free recipes; most of them are totally vegan, which eliminates all animal products. So my cupcakes didn't have eggs, either. I found this recipe on yummly.com. Next time I'll add cocoa powder to make them chocolate!
Here's the recipe, copied from the yummly website:
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 cups almond milk 2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar 2 tsps baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup coconut oil (I used vegetable oil) 1 1/4 tsps vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with baking cups.
Measure apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill with almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups. Let stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk mixture, oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups and bake until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15-20 minutes. (It took mine just a hair over 20 minutes.) Cool in pan on a wire rack.
Pretty simple! I'm not a great cook, but I've always been a decent baker (though my desserts don't always come out looking pretty!). And I enjoy baking. These vegan cupcakes were delicious! I'll probably play around with the recipe a bit, but its a good base.
Then I decided I needed some chocolate icing to go on the cupcakes. I found several recipes that sounded good. They all called for dairy-free margarine, though. I had a brain lapse and forgot that all normal margarine contains whey, so I used what we had. Only a 1/2 stick, but still. I did get some dairy in me this weekend. (Okay, a lot, since I ate about 6 of these babies...haha!) We looked at the grocery store last night and they don't carry dairy-free margarine, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about future recipes. But this icing was delicious!!
This one came from about.com:
2 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) dairy-free soy margarine, softened
1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk or soy milk 3/4 cup unsweetened pure cocoa powder
1/2 t. vanilla
Cream the powdered sugar and soy margarine with a hand mixer until its thick but well combined. (This took much longer than I anticipated.) Add the almond milk, cocoa powder, and vanilla, and continue to mix until smooth.
DH wasn't impressed with the chocolate icing, but I sure was! Probably because I've been deprived for almost 2 weeks. C enjoyed it, too. ( :
Also on my list was to dye C's new "big girl panties" so they're prettier. We began potty training her a few months ago, but we've been taking it very slow. We don't want to rush her, since she's not even 2 years old yet. Lately, she's been very into it. She wears big girl panties at her grandma's every day, and doesn't have many accidents. I did a bunch of research a while back on cloth training pants (obviously, I knew we weren't going the Pull-Up route) and purchased a couple different ones - the Best Bottoms training pants and one from Bummis. I've already talked about the BB one, didn't like it. The Bummis one is okay, but its super bulky and...billowy. It just looks ridiculous. Plus the outside is this shiny, slick fabric that pretty much looks like a diaper. My mother-in-law went to WalMart and bought some of the Gerber training pants. Much cheaper than the ones I was looking at! They're just underwear with extra padding in the middle, so they absorb a little pee. They're great!
The problem with them is its hard to find them in C's size - 2T. I guess most kids don't potty train until they fit in 3Ts. MIL lucked up and found a couple packs with girlie prints on them, but all I can ever find is white ones. C's not crazy about the white ones, and I figure we should do whatever we can to make her not want to pee in them! So I got some Rit dye and a fabric pen and went to work...
Here's what we started with:
And here's the end result! (They're not really this washed-out-looking, I think my camera did somethin funky.) :
Pretty, right? C loves them! I've got another 3-pack of undies and some yellow Rit dye. I intended to work on that yesterday but decided I needed a day of rest instead. ( :
The only other thing on my list was to create a shadow box for C's room using the outfit she came home from the hospital in. I've put away all her clothes as she's outgrown them, but I've left that dress hanging in her closet. I knew I wanted to do something with it, but until recently I wasn't sure what. I purchased a shadow box from Michael's (on sale!) and I have some good ideas as to what should go in there. When I showed it to my mother, though, she said the dress needed to be washed first. She volunteered to do it since it needs hand washing, and she hasn't given it back to me yet. As soon as she does, I'm going to get to work!
I accomplished some things that weren't on my list this weekend, too, but I'll save that for another post. ( : For now, enjoy this beautiful rainbow that we were blessed with yesterday!
Another thing on my list was to bake something sweet and dairy free. Mission accomplished! I found a great recipe for vegan cupcakes. Apparently, its hard to find straight dairy free recipes; most of them are totally vegan, which eliminates all animal products. So my cupcakes didn't have eggs, either. I found this recipe on yummly.com. Next time I'll add cocoa powder to make them chocolate!
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 cups almond milk 2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar 2 tsps baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup coconut oil (I used vegetable oil) 1 1/4 tsps vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with baking cups.
Measure apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill with almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups. Let stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk mixture, oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups and bake until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15-20 minutes. (It took mine just a hair over 20 minutes.) Cool in pan on a wire rack.
Pretty simple! I'm not a great cook, but I've always been a decent baker (though my desserts don't always come out looking pretty!). And I enjoy baking. These vegan cupcakes were delicious! I'll probably play around with the recipe a bit, but its a good base.
Then I decided I needed some chocolate icing to go on the cupcakes. I found several recipes that sounded good. They all called for dairy-free margarine, though. I had a brain lapse and forgot that all normal margarine contains whey, so I used what we had. Only a 1/2 stick, but still. I did get some dairy in me this weekend. (Okay, a lot, since I ate about 6 of these babies...haha!) We looked at the grocery store last night and they don't carry dairy-free margarine, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about future recipes. But this icing was delicious!!
This one came from about.com:
2 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) dairy-free soy margarine, softened
1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk or soy milk 3/4 cup unsweetened pure cocoa powder
1/2 t. vanilla
Cream the powdered sugar and soy margarine with a hand mixer until its thick but well combined. (This took much longer than I anticipated.) Add the almond milk, cocoa powder, and vanilla, and continue to mix until smooth.
DH wasn't impressed with the chocolate icing, but I sure was! Probably because I've been deprived for almost 2 weeks. C enjoyed it, too. ( :
Also on my list was to dye C's new "big girl panties" so they're prettier. We began potty training her a few months ago, but we've been taking it very slow. We don't want to rush her, since she's not even 2 years old yet. Lately, she's been very into it. She wears big girl panties at her grandma's every day, and doesn't have many accidents. I did a bunch of research a while back on cloth training pants (obviously, I knew we weren't going the Pull-Up route) and purchased a couple different ones - the Best Bottoms training pants and one from Bummis. I've already talked about the BB one, didn't like it. The Bummis one is okay, but its super bulky and...billowy. It just looks ridiculous. Plus the outside is this shiny, slick fabric that pretty much looks like a diaper. My mother-in-law went to WalMart and bought some of the Gerber training pants. Much cheaper than the ones I was looking at! They're just underwear with extra padding in the middle, so they absorb a little pee. They're great!
The problem with them is its hard to find them in C's size - 2T. I guess most kids don't potty train until they fit in 3Ts. MIL lucked up and found a couple packs with girlie prints on them, but all I can ever find is white ones. C's not crazy about the white ones, and I figure we should do whatever we can to make her not want to pee in them! So I got some Rit dye and a fabric pen and went to work...
Here's what we started with:
The only other thing on my list was to create a shadow box for C's room using the outfit she came home from the hospital in. I've put away all her clothes as she's outgrown them, but I've left that dress hanging in her closet. I knew I wanted to do something with it, but until recently I wasn't sure what. I purchased a shadow box from Michael's (on sale!) and I have some good ideas as to what should go in there. When I showed it to my mother, though, she said the dress needed to be washed first. She volunteered to do it since it needs hand washing, and she hasn't given it back to me yet. As soon as she does, I'm going to get to work!
I accomplished some things that weren't on my list this weekend, too, but I'll save that for another post. ( : For now, enjoy this beautiful rainbow that we were blessed with yesterday!
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