Who says Bribery isn't healthy?

Two weeks ago, Lonnie and I went to a Home and Family Conference at BYU-I. In one of the classes we took, the teacher talked about not bribing our children. Well, I'm sure he had good reasons for that and scientific data to prove it but . . . McKayla has been doing awesome at going pee in the potty but poops her pants everyday. So, this morning we went to the Dollar Store and bought 5 new toys that she could only have when she went poop in the potty. Well, not less than 15 minutes ago she looked like she needed to go. I reminded her that she'd get a toy if she went in the potty. She thought about it, walked over to her chair and went #2. She was so excited to pick a toy . . . she chose her princess pom-poms. She has been running around the house playing with them ever since. I love bribery.

Beckham

Last year for my birthday Lonnie gave me a Willow statue of a woman holding a baby. It was titled "My Little Angel" and was supposed to represent Beckham. I've always thought of Beckham as my little angel and he lives up to his title. Sure he's becoming more adventurous and asserting his little toddler will to make mischief. But, overall he's just a little joy. He eats with a spoon and will help you put toys away. He's mellow and funny. He loves to dance and laugh and watch Shaun the Sheep. He's a snuggler and the sweetest little guy I could have asked for.

Coming in October

Well, my little secret is mostly out of the bag. So, for those who don't know . . . I'm expecting our 3rd baby. We had our first appointment yesterday and I am due on October 27th. Yeah. Here is our little gummy bear for your viewing pleasure.

New Cell Phone

Hello all! I just got a new cell phone number. I've been trying to spread the word but . . . it's hard to contact everyone. So, if I've neglected to send you the number, please leave me a comment and I will send it to you privately. :)

Pee & Progress

Well, I'd just like to thank everyone who has given me ideas to help with potty training. McKayla is doing better. Today she peed in the potty three times and only twice on the floor. She's walking around the apartment in her "special pairs" of undies which she mostly doesn't like unless I ask her to take them off to sit on her potty. At that point, she will do most anything to keep them on. She is very strong willed. I've learned that she is motivated by big girl drinks like Capri Sun and juice boxes, as well as, privileges such as going outside, ABC time on the computer, helping mommy make dinner or riding around on daddy like a cowgirl. She despises sitting on the potty but always looks so pleased when she actually goes in the right place. Go figure. I am looking forward to the day when I know she is really fully trained. I feel so tense all the time wondering if she needs to go. I am even dreaming of potty training. I wake myself up yelling, "Oh, not there!" or "McKayla, you did it!" I don't really think that's a fair reward for working so hard to help my child become a big person. Dreams should be saved for more relaxing things like sitting on the beach or eating really fattening brownies.

Potty Training

So, I'm tired of all the poop and am attempting to potty train McKayla. So far, I am failing miserably. I bought her candy and pullups a few days ago. Then I tried putting her on the potty every 20 minutes or so. She managed to only go to the bathroom inbetween sitting on the potty. So, yesterday I went and bought underwear and decided that diapers/pullups would only be for sleeping. Well, yesterday she only went to the bathroom twice . . . stage fright? And both of those times were in a pullup in preparation for sleeping. Aaagh! So, today has been more exciting if nothing else. She peed on the bed, she peed on me, she pooped in her undies and peed in her pullup. She won't even attempt to go on the potty and she is above bribery. Help! Does anyone have any ideas to help me, 'cause I obviously missed the memo about how to successfully potty train your child.

More Poop

So, the poop saga continues (see below if you missed yesterday's blog). McKayla is on a new medicine to help her sleep through the night. It's been working pretty well and she's even slept through the entire night a few times in the last night. However, it also makes her a little grumpier in the daytime and leaves her with absolutely no desire to nap during the day. Today I tried something new . . . quiet time. It set up our portable DVD player in the bedroom, tucked her into my bed with some books and told her I'd be back in an hour. In retrospect, I should have kept the baby monitor on but I was enjoying the quiet to read my scriptures, do a little email and some family history research. I heard a few noises in the room but overall I thought she did pretty well. Boy was I mistaken. My room was thrashed. She took out all the tissues from the tissue box, dumped all the books on the floor and took off her diaper on my bed. Now, taking off the diaper wouldn't be so bad except that it was filled with poop. There it was . . . a giant log on my sheets. YUCK!!!!! I'm getting really sick of poop. I really hope I have nothing to report about poop tomorrow.

Poop

So, my kids love to take all the books off of the bookshelf and look at the pictures. It's not my favorite to clean it up afterward but at least they're having fun. Well, today they pulled everything out and were sitting quietly playing together on a pile of books. I was just about to take advantage of the quiet to make lunch when I realized that McKayla and Beckham were laughing hysterically. I walked into the room to check on them and found that McKayla was painting Beckham's face like an Indian . . . with poop from her diaper. There were big globs hanging from his forehead,nose and chin. There was a big smear on the rocking chair and their clothes were covered. The books were equally defiled. YUCK! I hurried to get them into the bathroom for a bath when I saw Beckham put a fingerfull in his mouth. I nearly puked. I spent the next little while bathing the kids, scrubbing the chair cushion, doing laundry and putting all the books away after scrubbing off any lingering poo. Ewww.