I want to pee in the volcano!

So--Ky has discovered the urinal. And he LOVES it!

Except he calls it the volcano. Pretty funny. He also gets mad when I can't take him to the urinal (like in church, or at the zoo.) I try to explain to him that only daddy can take him--but he doesn't get it. Oh well.

So we are ENTIRELY potty trained! Yeah! No more BM issues! And he hasn't even wet his pull-up at night or during naptime. AMAZING at his age! In fact he wakes up at night and asks to go.

Let's cross our fingers and hope that he keeps this up even when the baby comes. We tried to have some discussions with him, preparing him for a baby that wears diapers vs. him being the big boy. We will see. I just purchased the DVD "Potty Power" online. The library made me return it--and well I guess I bragged about it TOO much because it is gone. Someone else has got it now. I figure this DVD is a great investment not just to keep Ky potty trained, but also for the next one. BTW--I would like to mention that this video is very annoying to the adult--but at least it is short.

So no baby yet. And just an FYI--assuming I have time (which I most likely will) I will update my blog when the big day comes. Otherwise, I am growing more uncomfortable by the day AND the contractions have been pretty constant for 9 days now--just not growing in intensity or regularity. My last appointment (last Weds) had me at less than 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Take that for what you want since some women can go from 0 cm to in labor in hours. Right now the numbers mean very little to me. I am still in refusal to be induced or C-sectioned, and at my last visit I saw the nurse and nothing was said and no pressure was put on me (thank goodness.) My next appointment is tomorrow. I see the female doc. We will see what she says...but I am sticking to my guns--don't say anything about induction or c-section until I am close to 42 weeks. I want to go about this the natural way--and I will fight to get it!

Otherwise I have to say I am ready--yet no nesting desires or such which makes me think I have at least a few days yet. Right now I am trying to get quality time in with my boy--lots of snuggles and special trips like the zoo or the park. Things will definitely be changing soon. This is just a short entry to inform everyone who is asking---no baby yet...and yes I will call/email/update the blog when it happens--I find it especially funny that close family keep calling and asking if we have had the baby yet. I told Rob that next time we should tell them--"oh the baby---yeah --he/she was born weeks ago." Until the next blog--which will hopefully be THE blog everyone is waiting for.

We are Potty Trained!

Okay--now go back up to the title and sing the title with the "We are FAMILY" song in your head--that's what I was thinking when I wrote it.....Just want to get us on the same vibe before I get too far into this blog.

So are we totally potty trained? No, but we are pretty much there. Ky is no longer in diapers--and we may an accident a day (at most)--but have gone most days without any accidents....

A lot of people think I am nuts for potty training my boy in the last month of my pregnancy--but he was ready---he has been ready for a while...and the last straw was his holding himself 5 hours or more without going--and then when he did go the flood gates were overwhelmed and no diaper could hold him. So if I didn't move ahead with pottty training I was just condemning myself to more laundry and carrying around even more clothing changes for Ky--not to mention the carpets.

So I read the book--Potty Training in One Day. This was my guide--though I have to say I was a bit intimidated by the book--it was published in 1974 and the author was also well known for his book "Potty Training the Retarded." However, I read the book keeping in mind it was 30+ years old and I would need to adjust for how I want to work with Kylan. It was a very good guide.

I also got the video "Potty Power" from the library--which I still illegally have--I am not giving it back yet (hopefully I don't get arrested like the one chick that made CNN headlines--and yeah she was from Wisconsin)--Anyway, the boy loves the video and it is still incentive for pottying. I had Kylan watch it once a day each day about 3-4 days before I did the potty training. It was good background and got him excited.

So I planned to do it on a Friday, leaving Saturday for reinforcement, and then Sunday our first adventure out (church). Monday was then Labor day and we were traveling to Milwaukee. I was hoping that we would have it all down by then.

So Friday morning, Ky and I got up early. I gave him breakfast right away with lots of water to drink. Once he was done, I stripped him down, put on his new underwear (dinosaur underwear--he was very excited), pulled out 3 different options of beverages (none being juice--I didn't want to give the boy the runs), and pulled out dolly. I told Kylan we were going to have a FUN day--and yeah I really played up the fun.

So for the first 30 minutes, I taught Ky how to potty train "dolly." Dolly is a doll that you give her water and she pees. Ky would feed her and then we would run dolly over to the potty where she would pee. Dolly then got lots of praise--and here's the kicker-- CANDY! But of course Dolly can't eat candy--so I would tell Ky that if he would be a big boy and pee pee in the potty he could eat the candy. Well--what little boy wouldn't agree to anything if you give him candy. Ky received candy every 10 minutes then for having dry underwear and being a big boy (yeah he really got sugared up--but I figured it was worth it in the long run.)

We then went back to the beverages---Ky drank and drank and drank...and when he would pause, I would pretend to take his drink--that would make him upset so then he would take it back and drink more....Looking back on this--I was really setting him up to fail--but we all learn best through failure. I would then ask him if he needed to go pee pee--he would say no each time and then he started peeing. I tried what the book said--I tried to interrupt him, but nothing was stopping the great and mighty Mississippi. The first 3-4 accidents I was unable to get him to the potty to finish.

After he would have an accident. I would calmly tell him that big boys don't pee in their pants, he had an accident. I love him, but I don't love accidents. He needs to pee pee in the potty so we are all happy and he could be a big boy! I would then make him clean up the accident. I had a large pile of rags. He would wipe up the mess, deposit it in the laundry pile, take off his own underwear and put on new ones, then wash his hands. In essence I made him responsible for his own mess (as I followed him making sure it was adequately cleaned up.) By the way, I want to mention that I kept him on the tile floor to ensure there were no accidents on the carpet.

Our big break through occurred at 10:40 that morning. Ky said--"I have to Pee pee!" and then he went on his own. On his own means, pulled down his underwear sat and peed, got up, pulled up his underwear (though I usually have to assist with the back if the elastic gets folded down), took the pot out of the potty, emptied it into the toilet, flushed, gave the pot to me (so I can rinse and put back), then washed his hands with soap. Now that is a lot for a 2 year old--but keep in mind he had been practicing potty training the doll with all these steps throughout the morning. He received lots of candy then and praise--not to mention we called daddy at work.

I would like to say that Ky did great after that--but he didn't. We cleaned up many more messes into the afternoon. Throughout the day I kept track of when Ky had accidents, and by the late afternoon I knew he had to pee every 40 - 45 minutes. So I started to encourage him to sit on the potty about that time. That's when we really started to nail things on the head. He would go, do his ritual, and then resume playing. I rewarded with candy each time.

That night we put him in a pull-up, telling him they were night time underwear. The next morning he got up and we discovered he had not even wet them. (Nor did he wet them at naptime the day prior.) We put him on the potty right away and he went. Saturday went pretty well for us. He had a couple of accidents, but did really well over all. Naptime came and went and another night--and he still had yet to wet his pull-up.

Sunday was the real test--church! Yes we took him to church in his underwear. Remember if you want your kid to be potty trained you need to be consistent. Ky passed church with flying colors. He even told us half way through that he needed to pee. Dad took him to the big potty where he hesitated--so Daddy did his business and I think that helped to inspire Ky to go. What a big boy! I am so proud. Sunday was pretty much accident free as I recall.

Monday we drove to Milwaukee and spent early afternoon with Nana & G'ma Jan and then the afternoon with G'pa & G'ma Debi for G'pa's, Jordan's and Stephanie's birthdays. The drive was over an hour--Ky did fine. When we arrived at Nana's we tried to get him to go right away but he hesitated (this had me worried!) In the end it was all good. Ky went several times at Nana's and then succeeded at G'pa's as well. No accidents with travels! YEAH!

I do need to mention that at this point we had no successful BM's in the potty. If he had an accident it was usually that. After talking with a good deal of my friends though--they pretty much confirmed that it can take months before a child will go in the potty. Hey--I am okay with that.

So to continue on--Ky, most nights & naps, wakes up with a dry pull-up. What a great money saver! Several nights in fact--he has woken up and asked to go pee pee.

This may sound like everything is great with Ky, but we have had some difficulties. The biggest being BM's--and this problem has just been the last couple of days. Ky is holding it. He won't even go in his underwear. He will tell us he needs to go, strip down to nothing and sit on the potty--then when the urge comes he takes off running. ARGH--yeah you know what that means. So the last several days I have had to clean poop off my floors (only tile--thank goodness.) The first time he did this our friend Wendy was at our house and it was pretty funny--not funny to clean up, but funny to watch. Now it is no longer funny.

Today I have sought new measures. I am now making him sit on the potty until the BM happens. He can't be running around naked leaving his remnants everywhere and then stepping in it and then the dog---yeah, you get the picture. It seems to be working okay. I was afraid he might backfire on peeing, but he hasn't. I think secretly he appreciates us forcing him to go. He just doesn't have the courage. ARGH. So after he went today he was very VERY proud of himself and spent the day bragging about it. Let's hope it makes next time easier for him.

(Continuing a few days later) BM's are going pretty good now. He runs to the bathroom often claiming he has to poop and then nothing...but he has had enough successes on his own now that I can safely say we are BM potty trained. I think he is just very concerned with having an accident. And it has been days and days since his last accident....not even during the night or naptime!

Alright--so some other good stuff about Ky....

Ky is just as creative as ever. He is now putting his own words into songs he knows (a mommy & daddy trait). For example he was in the tub the other day and he started singing "It's washing time with Daddy & Kylan" to the Signing Time tune.

He also is understanding that letters make words. He will look for words on the page of a book and know that that is what we are reading. He will also notice words on street signs and stores, etc...He wants to know what they say.

Finally--I don't know where he even learned the word--but he always uses it at the right time "beautiful". He has told me that I am beautiful, I have beautiful hair, or if I made something (like the curtains in the baby's room) they are beautiful. What a thoughtful boy!

Lastly--as I am writing we are 11 days from the due date. Last night I had 5 hours of pretty consistent contractions. I actually thought that maybe the chocolates that my friend Liz had sent me had put me in labor or something (they started right after I had a couple of pieces)--BTW they were SCRUMPTIOUS! I was also a bit worried--I still wanted to do some apple picking--but now with the rain it looks like we won't get to do that after all. I also have felt pretty sure all along that this baby will either be born around the due date or after--so that would make me wrong (and I hate to be wrong!)

I think I got Rob a little panicked---he started packing snacks and then wanted to finish his homework. (I went to bed after doing some laundry and placing a few last things in the bag). I figured if it was for real, I would wake up later and at least I would get some sleep before my body exhausted itself. The contractions had started at 8 and at 1 I woke up still having contractions now every 7 minutes apart--yet they weren't more intense. I then woke up at 4 and they were gone. And the contractions were really hurting my back--another sign that they are for real. Hmmm...Interesting....Kind of weird for Braxton Hicks or False Labor...

Oh yeah--I should also mention that my Dr. this week told me that my baby was not engaged in my pelvis and that I should start thinking about a C-section or being induced. This made me mad. The whole reason for a V-BAC being defeated. I then went on line and read that most babies don't engage in the pelvis until you are in labor. I also read that most inducements (without the baby being engaged) lead to C-sections (75-80%) so right now I am not happy with him. He also estimated that the baby is at least 8 lbs, when a couple of weeks ago he estimated the baby would be between 6.5 and 7.5 lbs. Yeah---I have really lost confidence in him. At this point I have decided that there will be no interventions from me having a natural birth--and I will not consider a C-section or inducement until at least week 41 (if I make it that far) or if there is concern for the baby. I have been doing a fair amount of reading lately about the unnecessary amount of c-sections done now a days--especially when Dr's would prefer to go home instead of wait around and let nature take its course.

That's all for now.

A Met Reunion on Lake Huron

First this Blog needs some background….

So over the years I have kept in contact with my core Meteorology study group from college. Sarah, one of my good friends, decided it was time to have a reunion of this core group. Probably before last Christmas Sarah started planning this get together.

It was to take place in East Tawas Michigan on the shores of Lake Huron (at her grandparents cottage) in August.

Well it turned out FABULOUS! Sarah did an extra job—especially since she pretty much planned the whole thing!

As always here is my point of view (hey it is my blog after all!)

I was a bit hesitant committing to this journey. After all I was going to be over 34 weeks pregnant and with Ky I had complications at that time. I saw the doctor a few days prior though and was given the big “OK.”

We left Thursday after Rob got home from work. Our plan was to have half-way stops for the journey to and from E. Tawas. My family actually turned out to make good half-way points. (This was a 9 hour drive for us.) Thursday night we drove to my brother’s house. Ky was excited to see U. Joel. And of course U. Joel taught Ky a new game—now instead of “Wait for me!” it is “Don’t shake the bed, I’m trying to sleep!” This is actually a funny game because Ky will just start yelling it out at random times (not even when he is laying down.) As always, I love catching up with my brother and his wife on how they are doing. They have been extremely blessed and actually just recently had their own miracle occur. Long story short—Joel was laid off and then rehired. His employers were so impressed by his Christian attitude of the situation (it was on the front page of the local paper) they created a position for him because they did not want to lose an employee that shone that brightly!

Anyway—we left the next morning and finished our drive rather late. We arrived probably close to 5 PM on Friday (we were hoping to get there around noon.) Ky did excellent on the drive. He got a little grumpy in the last half hour, but who can complain when he has spent 9 of the last 24 hours in the car.

Sarah’s grandparents cottage (or house) was great. It had 2 downstairs bedrooms and a bathroom and then a loft filled with beds. The house had a huge lot with a long backyard that stretched quite a distance and then had beachfront with perfect sand. Not a rock was found in that sand. What a great place!

So we arrived and took some time to settle and greet my fellow alumni. We then walked down to the beach and let the kids play for a bit. It was chilly, but the kids did not mind. Bear (yes we brought Bear) was ecstatic to have the run of the beach and all these people around him.

Little Noah had grown so much since we last saw him. Mike was building castles and he was eagerly destroying them. Dylan is as tall as Ky—which surprised me since Ky is usually taller than most boys his age. Katelyn was as cute as a button and very content to play in the sand (or eat it). Dakota was the sand wonderboy—he would spend a lot of time concentrating on building or digging in the sand. I love kids—and it is always neat to see how they have grown and who looks like who—too bad Rich was unable to make it with Brooklyn to finish out the bunch of Met kids.

It was great to see all of my old pals again. Everyone in different roles of their lives as parents and/or professionals—somewhat different than our carefree days of college. Sarah I hadn’t seen if FOREVER—and she looked great—and just had such a warmth and confidence gleaming from her. She has definitely taken life by the horns. Linda has managed to keep her same sarcasm that turns any conversation into a surprise. Her little boy has also changed her with a motherly softness that comes as needed. Karen was right on top of things as far as planning and having ideas—we could always count on that. At the same time her devotion to her son and husband was definitely priority for her. Jason has turned into a man of adventure and confidence. I really enjoyed seeing pictures and hearing stories of where he has been. His career has really taken him to a lot of places. Melissa is a busy mommy—and balances both her kids so well. I am impressed by her patience—I hope that I can have that when my second one comes. I didn’t get as much of a chance to talk to Kelly as I would have liked—but I can tell that she has become even more inquisitive and observant than she even was in college. She is always thinking & doing. I wish I lived closer to her –she inspires me to always take the time to reflect.

So after some beach time—we all got cold and were ready for some good food. BTW—KUDOS goes to Sarah for planning, purchasing, and then preparing all the meals. They were delicious—and I honestly have to say it was nice to have a break from having to make meals for a couple of days. Night 1 was hamburgers & brats and such—and it was well-balanced, like all of Sarah’s meals, with fruits & veggies. YUM. After dinner it was decided that we needed an ice cream run. Poor Dakota fell asleep so didn’t get to enjoy the ice cream, but the rest of the kids devoured theirs. From there we went on a WalMart run for odds & ends and then back to the cottage. The moon was BEAUTIFUL over the lake, so I took some pics experimenting with camera. In one of the pics above you can see Jason in the moonlight bending over the water. Pretty cool!

We then put the kids to bed. Ky however decided that it was a new place and he did not want to go down easily. So we left him to cry. He EVENTUALLY fell asleep. We then tried to have some adult conversation, but were overcome by sleepiness. And in the end Ky ended up in bed with Rob and I. We were beaten and kicked by that little guy—this is why we don’t like to share the bed with him, but we survived.

The next day was our official relaxation day. After getting the kids fed & dressed (which took a LONG time) we all beached it for the morning. The kids had fun in the sand and perhaps dipping their toes in the water, but it was a bit too cold to wade in—however the men & Sarah had more guts than the rest of us and waded in chest high. (There’s a pic of them coming out.) BRRRRR!!! I can’t believe they did that.
For lunch we had –I forget what you call them—you basically make your sandwich over the fire. It was delicious—and Rob and I decided we needed to get some of these sandwich makers for ourselves.

The afternoon led to naps for the kids and some adults, for the rest of us we had some good ole games of UNO and SkipBo. I don’t know how I managed to NOT win even once, but I blame it on the Michigan air. My lungs just weren’t adjusted to such purity.

Dinner was a taco extravaganza. Sarah once again out did herself. There was so much food! Every pregnant lady’s dream! And then came the cake as we celebrated Miss Kelly’s 30th birthday (of course we didn’t forget!) Ky was very excited he LOVES cake!
Kelly told him he could have a second piece if he sang happy birthday to her again—he was happy to oblige.

That night we enjoyed a nice campfire and sat and talk. Karen and Dakota were too cute (check out the picture.) Of course Ky would never fall asleep like that in my arms when there is the excitement of other people and a fire. I miss it when he was little and he would sleep with me (nicely—not the torture that we were put through both nights in MI).

Anyways, Sunday led to farewells. I wish we could have hung out longer---but we have to save vacation for the new one and I was ready for my own bed. We stopped halfway and had a delicious dinner with my mother. Ky picked veggies out of the garden with her and now he says “remember when Grandma Mo and I picked peppers from the garden?”. His memory is amazing. By the time we got home we were beat. We all slept in on Monday and Dad went to work late. It was a needed recovery from the weekend.
Okay one more blog to catch up on---Potty Training and then we will be ready for the blog introducing number 2!

State Fair, Brewers, Butterflies, & Mallards in 2 days!

Boy—you can almost feel the panic of the nearing summer through my blogs. We do SO much in a weekend—and this is normal for us. We love the warm weather! I alson think we are even feeling more pressured to have fun now because of the new baby. We know it will be much harder for us to get out—not to mention they are predicting a worse winter this year than last year. SCARY!

Dad had Friday off of work and we decided to spend the day in Milwaukee. As normal, we did not get on the road as quick as planned, however that was fine. We went to Miss Katy’s Diner in Milwaukee for lunch (we did want to try it for breakfast—but like I said, slow start.) I have been wanting to try Miss Katy’s diner for a while. It was on the Food Network Channel and Rachel Ray had given it good ratings—plus the donuts were supposed to be over the top. And hey—who doesn’t like donuts!? We got there and had our brunch—but no donuts---they were done for the day. ARGH! The food was pretty good—but nothing I would return for. It was interesting that we got seated at the table where THE Bell Ambulance commercial was filmed—talk about exciting! At the end of the meal we started smelling something extreme and soon discovered it was our son—yeah—he went everywhere. We took him out to the car and changed him and wiped him down with wipes in the grass. The flies were swarming. It was nasty. Good thing I brought an extra change of clothes.

So here is the point where I need to mention that Ky has been holding his pottying. He will go 3-6 hours without doing anything—then go in his diaper and NO diaper can contain it. We have switched from cloth to disposable with no luck-in fact cloth is better because we at least have the rubber pants as a way to hold it in a little longer. So we knew that we needed to potty train him soon.

After that nasty change—we stopped at Kmart to buy the next size up diaper—hoping that that might get us through the day…Perhaps larger meant extra absorption (no we actually discovered larger meant easier to come out of the diaper!)

We then went to the State Fair. Grandma Debi had gotten us free tix and we knew Ky would love petting the animals. We battled the traffic, got parking and went in only to discover they no longer let you pet the animals. BUMMER! I guess 2 years ago a bunch of people got sick at the fair and they decided it was because people pet the animals, didn’t wash their hands and then ate food (gross!) And now those people ruined it for the rest of us—oh well.

It was fun—though I wasn’t really wanting to be on my feet for long. They were starting to swell and I was starting to cramp. I like the pic of Ky with the pig. It reminded me of when we took Ky to fair when he was 6 weeks or so—we also took a pic of him with the pig. Ahhh…the memories. Well at some point Ky started to get crabby too (see pic of him in the stroller) so I think we were all ready to call the fair quits. I am glad we had free tix, otherwise this journey would have been a waste of money.

After the fair, we met up with a good friend of ours (and our favorite realtor) Andrea. It was good to see her again and catch up on our lives. Ky slept through most of this visit which was good—he was then refreshed enough for the Brewer game which was to follow.

So we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Copp’s—a favorite burger and custard place—where I got sick (yes even this late in the pregnancy I am still getting sick) and then were off to the game.

The Brewer’s of course won—they win every time we attend a game this season—except when my brother went with us that one time and wore the forbidden SOX hat.

We went home exhausted and then got up the next day for the Farmer’s Market and Blooming Butterflies at Olbrich Garden with Nana & G’ma Jan. IT was another hot one—and I have to say I have not enjoyed hot days with this pregnancy. (Today the high was 61 degrees and it was perfect for me!) It was nice to be at the farmer’s market though—and to buy some goodies. We then went to Lazy Jane’s for lunch—a very nice and kid friendly local café. And then we were off to Olbrich Garden’s which had a special butterfly exhibit.

Ky was funny with the butterflies. He seemed scared of them at first and then quickly quickly warmed up to the idea of having these little critters fly around him. Next year when we go, I think we will go earlier in the morning on a less busy day. They say that the butterflies are more active then. It seemed like we saw a lot of the same types of butterflies. After that we walked through the outdoor gardens and let Ky play for a bit. The outdoor gardens are free and fabulous. They are a great place to take kids and just let them roam and explore. We found turtles basking in the sun—and one turtle actually appeared to be stuck. His body was in such as way that he couldn’t push himself off of the log and into the water. It was funny to watch him for a while. I guess having your home on your back isn’t always a positive feature.

The last pic is of us taking Ky to a Mallard’s game. After the gardens we put Ky down for a very VERY short nap. We had plans to see a Mallards game that night with some friends, so all too soon we had to wake him up. We dressed him at the game and he was a good sport. A bit clingy—but hey he was tired. And I think Ky thought it was all worth it once they did fireworks at the end of the game. So that was our busy weekend. Just wait—we got another busy one yet…I think the Michigan weekend is next blog—and I am trying to get caught up before the new one comes. It is helpful when I am awake between 3 and 5 most mornings. I am sure I will be caught up in less than a week.
Less than 3 weeks to go!