Ten of Tuesday

It's been a very long time since I did a Ten on Tuesday. Now that I'm not traveling or sick, I have the time to get back into my normal routine.

1. What does your car say about you? If you don't have a car, what kind of car would be your daily driver?

I drive a Mazda 3. It's sporty and fun. It's also black, which I will never do again. Adam chose the color when we were newly married and it was his car. I tried to tell him that it is too hot to have a black car in Houston, well really anywhere. My ideal car is a White or Charcoal Tahoe or Suburban. So I guess my car says that I'm still young.


2. To this point, what has been your purpose on this planet?
To be the best mom I can be but more importantly, to live my life for God.


3. If you could trade places with any person for any amount of time, who would it be?
I would have to sit and ponder that question for awhile and I'm not sure if I know.


4. What is your favorite kind of cake? If you don't like cake, what is it about it that you don't like?
Red Velvet or German Chocolate.

5. Would you have wanted to live in your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents generation, or only your own?
I would have loved to live in my grandparents generation. I feel like times were simple and more family oriented back in the day.


6. Do you have any home remedies for illness, cleaning, or otherwise?
No but feel free to leave some, I am always interested in learning new things.

7. What is your ideal weather situation?
About 80 degrees with no humidity and sunny. Hawaii's weather is perfect.


8. What is your best attribute (physical or personal)?
I have the gift of encouragement.


9. Do you text or surf while driving?
No, I really don't like it. In Cali it's against the law. But I just don't find it safe and it's rude when you are in the car with someone else. My pet peeve. If you are stopped and parked, then that is different.

10. How long have you known your best friend?
I am fortunate to have a couple of best friends. I have known Jeanna for 6 years. I have known Marissa for 2.5 years. Jessica and I grew up together from the start of our freshmen year in high school, so 16 years.

Day 3 Potty Training

Don't worry, I won't be updating everyday. I know it gets old reading about Mason's bodily functions, but this is also to document it for me, so that I can look back on it when it comes time to potty train Taylor and any future kids we will have.

I was very nervous and not sure what to expect with Adam gone. I am so glad we started this process over the weekend, when Adam was home. I don't think it would have gone as well if we hadn't. I tried to make the day as normal as possible, except we didn't leave the house at all and I constantly kept reminding Mason to tell me or just putting him on the potty.

Only one accident today! He went 8 for 9 and didn't poop today. That wasn't too surprising to me. Usually one day out of the week, he will skip his daily poop. It's either that or he is just holding it in. Tomorrow will tell.

I look forward to the day when he is doing all of this on his own, but until then I will give it my all in training him and teaching him the signs and constantly reminding him. Thank goodness God has given me patience through all of this.

Day 2 Potty Training

Wowsers, Mason was up super early this morning because he leaked. We are putting him in night time pull-ups for bed, and even stopped giving him liquids at 5:30pm last night, but it still happened. His normal bed time used to be around 6pm, but he took a nap yesterday and didn't drift off to sleep until 9pm. Little sleep for us and him.

By lunch time he already successfully pee'd in the potty 6 times. Pooping is still an issue. One that I really don't like, but I'm not going to stress over it yet. He will get there. Luckily, he took a nap again today. Two days in a row he has a dry pull-up after naps.

Tonight he begged for milk before bed. It was so hard not to run in the kitchen and grab it, but I don't want to wash his sheets again due to leaking. Atleast he fell asleep a little earlier tonight. Today went a lot better than Day 1. He still remembered everything and he was 10 for 14. Adam goes back out of town tomorrow for work. I'm nervous doing this on my own, but I know he can do it.

We don't have any plans to go anywhere this week. I want to try and get this down pat before we venture out. I will be so anxious to get out of the house by the weekend. Day 3 will be the true test.

Day 1 Potty Training

All week, I tried to prepare Mason for his "Potty Party." It wasn't until Thursday that we officially decided to start potty training that Saturday morning.. I'm glad that I had been talking to him about it all week, to get his mind in the thought process.

Right now, Mason is really in to Toy Story. I purchased a bunch of underwear back in January, but I knew that Mason would really get into it if he had Buzz & Woody underwear. So off to Target we went on a pursuit for more underwear.

Friday evening, we relaxed by the pool and grilled over at Ray & Marissa's. It was exactly what we needed before we embarked on this new journey. Before he went to bed, we reminded him that in the morning, we would be having a "Potty Party" and we would be throwing away all of his diapers.

He woke up this morning, with excitement, remembering that we would be having a party today. I even decorated the house and put up streamers and made signs and a potty chart. I walked around the kitchen and showed him all of the signs and his new chart and then we gathered every last diaper of his and tossed them in the trash. I should preface to say that I didn't have any expectations on how the day would go. Of course, I hoped it would be successful, but I didn't want to set myself up for disaster.

I have no idea how many times we repeated ourselves that day, but we wanted to make sure that he understood that his pee and poop go in the potty and to let us know if he needed to go. I made up a potty dance and just tried to make the day fun. No pressure.

By the end of the day, he only had four accidents and two of the times, he stopped himself and finished on the potty. He understands both urges and knows when to sit, but doesn't want to poop on the potty. He doesn't like it in his underwear either. Unfortunately, he is such a fast popper that I can't get to him fast enough when he is in the process. He successfully pee'd in the potty 6 times.

Adam and I are tired, but pleasantly surprised with how well it went. He picked up on it quickly, but still needs guidance and constant reminder. He doesn't get that if he is playing with his toys and needs to go, that he needs to stop, but he will get there. Now time to rest up for Day 2.

Have I lost my mind?

Tomorrow morning, we will be batting down the hatches and begin the part of parenting I despise the most, Potty Training. Seriously, it would be so nice if this would be smooth sailing, but I know it won't and I anticipate all of the worse case scenarios.

Mason is ready, he is more than ready, but I wanted to wait until after our trip in May. Since Adam is really busy with work right now, this is the only weekend we have open to start this journey. I didn't want to attack this alone. I tried back in January and quickly gave up. This time, it IS NOT AN OPTION!

I figure if Suz can potty train quads all at once, I can tackle my stubborn almost 3 year old. We are doing the 3Day Potty Training. I have read awesome reviews about it and had some friends try this technique and plan on giving it our all. If you don't hear from me in awhile, you know why.

Friday Favorites

I'll get right to it.

5. Taylor lifting her shirt to show me her belly button.
She has a new fascination with belly buttons. If I am laying down on the floor, she will come over and lift my shirt and point to my belly button and then proceeds to give me a raspberry on my belly. I love her sense of humor.

4.Toy Story
I knew that Toy Story 3 would be coming out this summer and thought that the first two movies would be fun for Mason to watch. He fell in love right away and wears his Woody hat all the time, but he is a bigger fan of Buzz Lightyear. Due to this new infatuation, we have decided that his birthday party will be Toy Story themed this year. We are inviting our close friends and their kids to watch the Toy Story 3 with us for Mason's birthday. Since we will be in Houston on his actual birthday, we will be having his birthday party early this year the weekend the movie is released.

3. "This is delicious!"
Mason's new phrase. It cracks me up, probably because he started saying this out of nowhere. We could be sitting on the couch and he will be drinking out of his sippy cup and the words will come out of his mouth. Too cute.

2. Short week.
Anytime there is a holiday weekend and Adam has a short work week, it brings joy to my life. I'm sure most people will say that, but I really look forward to it since Adam travels so much. Any extra time I have with my husband and the kids get to be with their Daddy is welcomed.

1. Friends.
May was an incredibly busy month for us and I didn't get to see much of my friends due to traveling and being sick. We are so blessed to have such great friends here, that they are more like family to us.

Walking and Potty Training

We finally have a healthy household! I hope I haven't spoken too soon, but for now, everyone is feeling much better. We spent Memorial Day at our good friends, Ray & Marissa's. They have a pool and the weather was perfect all weekend long. We jump on any chance to go for a swim. Unfortunately, it was just Adam & Mason taking a dip in the pool, while Taylor & I watched from the sidelines. She was still getting over her ear infection and I didn't want to risk any setbacks in my recovery.

As I mentioned last week, Taylor is walking. She started walking at the beginning of May. A few steps here and there, but she was doing it all on her own. Miss Independent wouldn't dare hold our hands and walk, she is the kind of girl that would be sitting in the middle of the room and stand up on her own and start walking. That's my girl!

When we were in Houston, her walking really took off. Adam was so surprised to see the difference when we arrived home last week. Most parents dread the day when your kids start crawling and walking, but I love it. It is so much easier and I love the independence of not having to carry her everywhere. She doesn't weigh but 20lbs, so she is light in comparison to Mason at that age.

Potty training Mason is in our near future. He is SOOOOOOOOO ready and so am I. We picked out new Toy Story underwear and we are going to have a "No More Diapers" party. He will proudly be tossing all diapers in the trash. Then I will need all the prayers I can get. I'm sure I'll be writing about it.