worst part about parenting

The worst part {according to me} so far is POTTY TRAINING!!! I don't know why, but I absolutely hate potty training! I think the main reason I dislike it so much is because I lack the patience. I am not a patient person whatsoever, and to stay calm for days on end while you clean up pee and poop is not my ideal parenting job. But...it has to be done!

Potty training Wesley was so hard {or so I thought}! We started when he was 3 months shy of turning 3. We did the whole method where we put him in underwear and spent the next 3-4 days teaching him to go in the potty. Did he wet himself? Yep! Did he poop in his underwear? Yep! I hated every second of it. We didn't do anything to prepare Wesley, and I was surprised that by day 3 or 4 he was telling me he had to go potty. It was like a light bulb went on in his head. I thought we were free and clear after that. Boy, was I wrong! It took probably another month and a half to get him trained all the way. I swear most of his accidents were just to spite me. He even peed on my bed while staring me straight in the face! By his 3rd birthday, he was pretty much trained. He still had a few accidents here and there but he was doing great!

Onto Beckett...I've been dreading the day we started training since the day he was born! When Rob got laid off this past fall, I thought it might be good to get started since I'd have his help. We talked to Beckett a little bit about it and he really showed no interest. So we put it off. Then a couple of weeks ago Rob came to me and told me he wanted to start potty training Beckett over Martin Luther King weekend since he would be home for 3 days. I was hesitant, but gave in. We stocked up on underwear and little prizes. We prepared him the best we could and dove in head first.

The first day {saturday} was rough, but by the late afternoon we got him to go #1 and #2 in the potty. We were ecstatic...he was ecstatic! He had a couple of accidents but went two more times through out the day. The next day didn't go so well. We couldn't get him to sit on the toilet and he was saying he was scared. We went to church and put a pull up on him. When we got home, I spent quite a bit of time with him in the bathroom and got him to go in the potty again. Again...ecstatic! Onto day 3...he started resisting a little more. He would sit on the potty but wouldn't go. I can't remember exactly, but I don't think he went a single time in the potty that day. I was beyond frustrated and even scared, because I knew Rob would be returning to work the next day and I would be all by myself. I prayed A LOT and went into day 4 {tuesday} feeling motivated to stay calm. It only lasted until about 10 am. The kid was completely resisting and cried every time I tried to stick him on the toilet. I called Rob for help. We decided to take a break. I was frustrated and we knew that he was probably frustrated so we stopped. I stuck him back in a diaper and didn't mention the p word to him for few days.

I felt like a total failure! I didn't want to give in, but I also didn't want to scar the poor kid and have him be completely scared of the toilet. I also didn't have a clue of when to reintroduce it. I wanted to get him trained before his birthday, because starting in March I will be watching my friend's adorable little girl. The thought of training him while watching a newborn completely overwhelmed me. Ugh...what was I supposed to do? My mom kept telling me that he would do it on his own time, and of course I didn't want to listen. I like things done when and how I want. I finally decided to leave it alone.

On Saturday, just four days after I put him back in diapers, Rob and I went out with some friends and left the boys with our fabulous friend Nicole, aka Nikki. We came home that night and Nikki had told us she got Beckett to sit on the potty and he went for her. I was excited but also thought it was just a fluke. Then on Sunday shortly after he got up, Beckett said he needed to go potty and to our surprise he went in the bathroom and went POTTY! We couldn't believe it! I was so happy, but also didn't want to get my hopes up, so we continued to keep a diaper on him. We went to church and Beckett told me twice that he needed to go potty so I took him but nothing. Then during Sunday school I was taking the roll to the nursery when his teacher walked out and told me Beckett was in the bathroom with his diaper off. I walked in and asked him if he went and he answered "yeah mom, I goed!" I completely believed him. He is quite honest when it comes to going to the bathroom. He either says, "yeah I goed", or "no, I just sat on it". After church I checked his diaper and it was completely dry! He continued going to the bathroom through out the rest of the day. Rob and I couldn't believe it! Was it really going to be this easy the second time around? I texted Nikki and thanked her! I don't know what she did to ignite a fire in him, but it worked!

We are on day 3 of no accidents...{so far}! GO BECKETT!

I couldn't be more proud!

I pulled the plug...

I can't believe it really happened...I found the perfect opportunity to pull the plug on Beckett's binky. I was starting to get worried about when we would take it away from him. He was really attached to it and we hardly saw him without it in his mouth. We didn't pull the plug on Wesley until he was 17 months old. And we got really lucky with him and it went better than expected. Well, last week Beckett woke up from his nap and I didn't realize he didn't have his binky attached to him. I was in a hurry to get the boys fed and out the door to my nephew's baseball game. At the game, my sister Jenny noticed he was looking for his binky and we realized he didn't have it. I didn't think anything of it because it sometimes gets caught on the car seat.

Well, the next time I thought about his binky was the next morning. I realized he still didn't have it attached to him. Then I realized I never looked for it the night before. I called Rob and asked if he remembered if Beckett went to bed with it. He said he couldn't and so I went looking for it. I found it under his crib and was about to give it back to him, but then it hit me that this was the perfect opportunity to see if he could go without it. It has now been five days and we are still binky free! He has been a little more whiny and it takes him a few minutes to go to bed, but he has been a trooper! I was so relieved to have another "no more binky" incident go so smoothly. I am also relieved I don't have to buy anymore binkys. Our dog LOVES plastic and eats any binky that is left lying around. We have probably spent $200 on binkys between the two boys! Not to mention money we have spent on new bottle nipples. (We have a retarded dog!)

*Potty Training Update*

I just wanted to give an update on Wesley and potty training. Things are going AMAZINGLY well. It took a rough 2-3 weeks but he is doing so well. I am so proud of him! He is going both #1 and #2 in the potty and he hasn't had an accident in over a week! (knock on wood!) I would have to say that #2 was really hard to conquer. I think he was really nervous and scared to go on the potty, but once he finally did it, it hasn't been a problem since. This has been a very difficult thing for me as a parent, but I knew it was something that had to be done. I am so glad I didn't back down or give up and put him back in diapers. I knew he could do it if we worked at it. It has taken A LOT of patience, but it is paying off. I am so happy that we only have to buy diapers and wipes for ONE child! Although I haven't seen the extra cash in my wallet yet :)

Also, if any of you are interested, I've started updating my running blog again. I am planning on updating it every Sunday. So, if you want to hear me complain about my half marathon training check it out! And I can't post without including pictures, so here are a couple of my handsome boys!

Look at this sweet get up Wesley picked out to wear the other day after church! I about died! Dad was definitely supervising, not me! Also, look at his hands. This is Wesley's trademark. He always has his fingers crossed like that. I think it's so cute!

House Arrest

That's right folks...I feel like I'm on house arrest! Since last Tuesday, the only places I have ventured out to are: doctor's office, store, my parent's and Leatherby's. And I've gone out for my scheduled runs. But other than that, we have been home! For those of you who know me, this is not normal for us. The boys and I go out on various field trips DAILY! The reasons for our house arrest...#1 - a NASTY virus!
Last week Wesley got a horrible cough. He could not stop coughing for more than 2 seconds. I took him to the doctor and they said he had a virus which was causing a wheeze. They gave him a breathing treatment and sent us out the door with an inhaler. By Saturday Beckett wasn't feeling too well and yesterday he woke up with a little wheeze. It concerned me because it was worse than Wesley's. So...to the doctor we went. Diagnosis - same as Wesley's, but Beckett also had a bad ear infection. We were sent on our way with antibiotics and an inhaler. Today Beckett woke up wheezing worse than yesterday. I was concerned it might be RSV but didn't want to take another trip to the doctors for no reason. Luckily, sweet Margie (a neighbor who happens to be a pediatric nurse) came to the rescue and came and checked Beckett out. She reassured me he was ok and recommended giving him Saline drops to help break up the mucus. I'm hoping he will start feeling better in the next couple of days.

Reason #2 for our house arrest:

Potty Training! This is something that I've been dreading for months! When it comes to being a parent, I don't do well with bodily fluids. I am not one who can clean up throw up. I end up gagging and throwing up myself. I've never been a fan of changing diapers, but I know it's something that has to be done. Since I've been changing 2 bums for the past year, I started contemplating potty training Wesley. He wasn't really showing signs of readiness, but he's a smart kid. Rob and I decided that we had to start now or wait until July (we are trying to plan a trip to Disneyland in June). And that wasn't really a convenient time because we travel up to Bear Lake a couple of times during the summer and I didn't want to be in the middle of training when we did go. We started looking at weekends to start and this past weekend seemed perfect. We didn't really have anything going but general conference and that was perfect because then we would hopefully have enough time to get him sort of trained before church next week.

So we started on Saturday and it wasn't going so well. He wouldn't even sit on the potty and I was starting to wonder if he really wasn't ready. Finally by 4pm he went on the potty! Rob and I were so proud. He also went 2 more times while we were out to dinner at Leatherbys. Sunday also went better than expected. He still wasn't telling us he had to go, but Rob and I took a preemptive approach and tried to put him on the toilet before he went in his pants. It worked. He even went number 2 on the toilet (pure luck). Monday I was terrified to do the training alone. I wouldn't have anyone to watch Beckett while I dealt with Wes. First attempt at putting him on the toilet Monday morning did not go well. We had 3-4 accidents and he still wasn't telling me he needed to go.

On Tuesday morning, Wes totally had a meltdown and wouldn't even try to go. I ended up having a meltdown and had to sit him down and have a major talk with him. I knew we couldn't go back to diapers after being this far into the training process. He is a smart kid, so if we went back to diapers I knew the next try at potty training wouldn't go smoothly at all! I sat him down and told him there were no more diapers. He had to wear big boy underwear and use the potty. He said ok and not even 20 minutes later he came running to me saying he had to go to the bathroom! I was thrilled! It was the first time he told me he had to go before actually going in his pants. It was another proud moment. Yesterday has been the best day so far. He only had one accident and it was #2. I was very optimistic going into today. He sort of took a couple of steps backwards, but he is learning quickly. I feel like in a couple of more days he will at least get the first part down. I was starting to regret my decision, but after yesterday and today I think it was a good decision to start training him. We've come a long way in the past five days and I hope we make improvements in the days to come. Wish us luck!

After a week and a half of being in the house, all of us are going a little stir crazy! Hopefully by Monday Beckett will be feeling better and I will be able to take the boys some place fun! Luckily for me, tomorrow night my friend Maren and I are going on a little girls night. I can't wait! Thanks to Nikki for making it possible!