How to tell your child may want to start potty training...

There are some pretty easy signs to follow, like she shows interest in going to the bathroom and using the potty or doesn't like to wear diapers anymore. Then there's the pretty telling take-off-the-diaper-every-time-a-drop-of-pee-is-in-it sign. Gotta love this one, too. Nothing says "you're going to be overdrawn in your bank account" like your 21 month old going through a pack of diapers in a day and a half.

The only problem is that when I put her on the big potty, she won't let go of my neck. Like, I have to sit there with her the entire time she's on the seat so she can hold my neck while I try my hardest to balance on my toes and not fall backwards, flinging her forward off the potty (talk about some serious PTSD). And then she doesn't even pee!! But she hops down with the same intensity and excitement as if she's just pee'd a whole day's worth right then! And flushing? Omg, I think the kid is going to be a career flusher. She enjoys saying "bye-bye!!" to absolutely nothing more than anyone I've ever known.

I went to WalMart and found that they have no panties that fit her, anyway. Well, not entirely true. They have those horrid plastic-covered training pants that make the kwish-kwish noise when they walk with them on. I am soooo not buying those for her. But the smallest size panty comes in a 2T/3T size. There is such a huge difference in a 2T and a 3T. Why the heck are the two sizes combined for panties that are covering tiny little butts?? A 2T would be up to Brooklyn's neck so we'll have to find another alternative when the time comes. I'm pretty sure she'll be in a 2T panty when she's, um, going into Kindergarten. :)

While going through all this diapering, panty searching, and potty necking, it dawned on me that I haven't been doing any of this for over 10 years! The last kid I had to potty train was Brad. Blake trained himself in a day which was absolutely AWESOME!!!! I guess God couldn't be kind and give me another one of those, could He?? Huh, God? Ya hear me? I promise I wouldn't mind that AT.ALL. I've gotta get a break with her at some point; you saw my eye! I deserve an easier time from here on out!!

Midterms already??

For my patho class, I have to go up to the school to take an in-class test each Weds even though it's supposed to be an online class. Fine, no biggie. Today I was a few minutes late getting in there so I'd missed the announcement that we needed to stay afterwards to talk with her, get our grade for midterms, etc. I needed to talk with her about something anyway so I got lucky.

So, I'm in her office and she tells me what I made on the test. Now, I am a chapter behind b/c the last module was 117 pages long and it took me waaayyy longer to complete it than the others. So while the test was over cancer and the neurological system, I had only read the cancer chapter. Not good. I didn't feel good about the test and I was sure I'd bombed. She pulls out the test and says I made a 78. 78??? Are you serious?? I can't believe I made that high of a grade considering 85% of the test was over a chapter I didn't even glance at.

Then she figures up my midterm grade, with the module tests included, and I'm carrying a mid-B right now. YES!! This class is, by far, one of the hardest and most time-consuming classes I've ever taken and I'm actually doing well. Not that I'm surprised all that much but I am surprised at my test grades. I have been getting a bit of test anxiety lately and tend to do a bit more poorly than my potential. It feels so great to finally have test scores and grades reflect me accurately!! <>

So, at midterms, I'm carrying a B with 3 more tests and the final to go. I totally have a chance of getting an A!!!

And a big Happy Birthday to my bff's twin daughters who turned the big 5 today! Happy Birthday Abby and Emma!!

Happy Father's Day!

Wow, Father's Day really snuck up on me this year. I've been doing soooo good at getting cards and such out in plenty of time to get to the intended recipient, much to the amazement of all who were receiving, lol. As everyone knows, procrastination is a gene I possess. So, I have all the cards here, addressed and stamped, and packages to go out as well and did I send them out? No, of course not. It took way too much energy to actually make it out to the road to the mailbox apparently. I made the calls, though, so at least I wasn't a loser all around. :)

The kids got Tommy two outfits and a goody bag of snacks that he loves, plus a big bucket of gum (I think they got this "for him, for them" though, lol). I'm sure I'll grow to hate that purchase most of all! He liked his gift and laughed at the cards each one of them picked out for him. The boys' card was the funniest: (outside) Dad, you've shown me everything I need to know to be a man... (inside) ..now I just have to find a woman like Mom to put up with me! Truer words have not been spoken!!

Happy Father's Day to all the men in my life!!!

Get out the helmet! The little monkey is home!!

Or maybe I should just get a patch to protect the other eye!! LOL

After being with Mom since Monday, Brooklyn finally came home a little while ago. I missed her terribly but, MAN! my house was peaceful while she was gone. And clean. :)

She is so excited to see Ashley and vice-versa. Ash talked with her on the phone for a few minutes and begged me to bring her out to Taylor's so they could see her. She's a little terror but she can be a little love-bug, too.

Now we are just one kid short. Brad is still at camp, having a great time. I talked with him yesterday morning and they were planning to do the whitewater rafting later that morning. I'm sure he had a great time, especially since he hasn't called but one time!

"It's 7am and my sippie is empty! Fill it now!!"

Maybe this is what Brooklyn was thinking this morning. In any event, this is what I look like after an eventful "wake up call" by Brooklyn this morning. She was in her bed beside me and had her sippie with her; I had woken up about an hour earlier and put Barney or something on for her and had filled her cup. I went back to sleep, lying on my back. Around 7am, she threw her cup (probably b/c it was empty again) and it hit me in the eye. I sat up and grabbed my eye because it freaking hurt and scared the crap out of me!! I instantly started crying (you know that area is sooo sensitive and it hurt so bad) and felt the wet feeling in my hand, thinking it was tears. But when I lowered my hand and looked, it was blood. I REALLY started to freak at that point; I just had no idea what my face looked like. When I checked it out, it was just a huge laceration across my eye, right below my eyebrow. It was swollen and soooo sore. But I didn't expect there to be any more to it than the cut and swelling.

I headed to church not having put any makeup or coverup on it; there just didn't seem to be a need. By the end of service, though, it was obvious something was wrong because the bruise had started to form. People started to ask what happened. By the evening service, it was REAL obvious and today it looks worse.

So, other than not letting her have her sippie in her bed anymore, I'm not exactly sure what to do. I guess I'm going to have to get real tough with her and not let her have anything back if she throws it. That will mean taking her food away at mealtime, though, and that will be the hardest. *sigh*

Here's a picture of the damage :


Brooklyn is with Mom for the next few days and I told her I expect Brooklyn to come home having been broken of this habit. And potty trained, too.

Test today...could've been better

So my test was today. I wasn't really prepared so I think the grade I got was pretty darn good, lol. It was over 3 chapters and I'd only been able to read one of them. I still have a B average, though, so I'm in good shape.

I'm feeling worse today than I did yesterday!! I coughed through the whole test, once even to the point that I had to get up and go get some water. This really bites! I'd love to go home and get in the bed but VBS is tonight and I know the kids are looking forward to it.

On a positive note, I was able to talk with one of the ladies at church over dinner yesterday and she's really sweet. She is the type of person that is hard to read, that looks mad alot of the time. Turns out she's just making that kind of face when she's trying to focus or listen intently, lol. I've been accused of the same thing before; I wonder if people think I'm mad alot of the time? I hope not. That's not projecting Jesus very well...

Sick in the summer? No fun!

Today's been a rough day. I feel like crap. I haven't been feeling well since Sunday - achy, coughing, runny nose, stuffy nose, headache. My throat was sore yesterday and it was worse this morning so I went to the dr. A throat-swab said I was strep negative, thankfully. Rachel told me I have a bronchial infection and put me on some meds. She also prescribed a cough medicine for me that knocks me out (hydrocodone) so I can only take it at night. Why me?!?! :)

I still went to VBS because I didn't want to leave Lydia hanging (even though we have plenty of help out there) and didn't want the kids to miss a night. I warned everyone I wasn't feeling well and so they all observed the "3-foot rule", lol. No kids ran up to me either so I may have to incorporate the 3-foot rule in everyday life.

Hopefully the meds will kick in quickly; I have a test tomorrow and really need to be in my best condition.