Love Poop: the greatest gift of all

If you came here for an in-depth post on Africa, well, this isn't it.

I just wanted to let you all know that while I was gone, my AMAZING, TOTALLY AWESOME, FATHER-OF-THE-YEAR HUSBAND completely potty trained Aaron. Aaron's been wearing big boy undies for quite some time now (even before I left) but he'd hold all his poop until naptime and then unleash in his diaper. Or worse, he'd just go in his underwear, then play with it.

So on Monday, when I came home from 11 days away and Luke informed me that Aaron had been pooping in the potty, I was a tad (read: HUGE, COLOSSAL AMOUNT) skeptical. HOWEVER, today, after Bible Study, Aaron came over to me and said, "Mom, I need to go poop" AND THEN HE POOPED IN THE POTTY. And it wasn't his typical, let me squeak out a rabbit pellet to relieve the pressure then wait for the naptime diaper to poop. It was the motherLOAD.

For serious. Y'all can't possibly know what kind of a gift this is to me. Well, if you've read this post, then maybe you do. Yes, I just said a toilet full of poop is a gift. And so is having only ONE CHILD IN DIAPERS.

Y'all it's been almost FIVE YEARS since I've had only 1 kid in diapers. FIVE YEARS of 2 or 3 children wearing diapers.

For the record, my husband rocks. End of story.

The day the music potty training died

Dear Two Year Old Son of Mine,

I love you so much sometimes I wonder how my heart holds all the love. I look at your big, blue eyes and your sweet smile and I know that God purposed for you to be my son long before I even thought I wanted to be a Mom.

The love I have for you is inexplicable.

As is my frustration with you today.

Today is the day the music my desire to potty train you died.

Sweet mercy. Please use the bathroom in the toilet. All of it. Not just the pee. I know you are capable because YOU'VE DONE IT BEFORE. Perhaps you prefer your Dad to be home to poop in the potty, since that's when you seem to do it best (like I'm a freaking liar who only claims that you won't poop in the potty).

If there are many more days like today, you will certainly have your wish FULL TIME. Because I, your Mother, will return to the work force and allow your Dad to play poop with you. We may make half the income we currently live on and your Dad might go crazy but, sweet mercy, I AM DONE POTTY TRAINING YOU.

Done.

You can wear diapers the rest of your life, for all I care. But be warned. If you are still crapping in your diaper a year from now, you will be changing yourself.

I refuse to get into a battle of the wills with you over the toilet and your poop. I REFUSE. So now, I will be that Mom who allows her very-capable-of-using-the-potty 2 year old to wear a diaper. I will be that Mom who, when her sweet and (not-so) innocent 2 year old lovingly says,

"Mommy. I pee pee in potty?"

will respond, probably too harshly, with, "Go in your diaper."

And when other people, who have not cleaned your poop off of things that should NEVER have poop on them, look at me and wonder why I won't rush a "ready to potty train" two year old to the bathroom at his deceleration that "I pee pee in potty, Mommy?", look at me like I'm a cruel Mother who doesn't want her boy to ditch diapers, I will ignore them.

Because, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS GOOD AND HOLY PLEASE MAKE IT STOP, I refuse to battle you over an issue that is clearly you demonstrating your willpower.

I love you immensely. Much more than I ever thought possible. But you can crap in your pants until your 4, for all I care. Consider this your warning. You have 1 year, maybe less, and you're changing your own diaper. FOREVER.

With all my heart and love,

Mommy

NavBar and some random

What's new around our house and this blog?

A lot actually. We are still processing our time in New York with Africa Inland Mission. We thought we had the potential assignments narrowed down to 2, then after sending and receiving a few emails we now find ourselves considering a few more. I'm getting a little anxious about picking a place and moving forward because we still have A LOT to do before our target departure date of July 2012.

I know it's 18+ months away but we still have a whole lot to do. I'll try to outline all of that for you all soon.

If you follow me in Google Reader, you probably saw a few random posts today. Sorry about that. I was trying to get a new Navigation Bar set up and I accidentally published some of those links with today's date rather than backdating them. Ooops. Oh well. Hopefully, once I get all those Navigation Bar links up and running I can omit a lot of the info in my sidebar and make my blog a little more user friendly. If you're interested in making a NavBar for your blog you can go to Jenieshell's Design Blog and read her tutorials. They are SO SIMPLE!

Today Ella turned 8 months old. She did her first baby sign today asking for "more." Well, at least I think she signed it. Or maybe she was clapping because I was clapping. Either way, she's pretty much the sweetest baby ever and a complete genius. :) I'll try to do a whole post on her soon and hopefully post some video because she's crawling (sorta) and can push herself up to sitting and has now been dubbed as "Elliegoat" by the big kids because she eats everything she can get her chubby little fingers on.

Aaron desperately wants to go pee in the potty but I'm over trying to potty train him. I'd be fine if he'd put everything in the potty but all he seems to care about flushing is pee pee. All other "items" he could care less about putting in the potty which means he's still in diapers for now.

I know, I know. I should carpe potty but I just don't want to. I would if he'd carpe in the potty. Then we'd be golden.

That's about it for now. I've used all my allotted computer time making the NavBar and now telling you why I had random posts showing up and talking about seizing the potty. Y'all have a great evening. And Happy Thanksgiving if I don't get back to you before then!

The Potty Is Alive, With Sound of Flushing!

Potty training is one of the things I never really thought about before I had kids. Sure, I knew kids had to learn to use the potty, but the nitty gritty of potty training never crossed my mind. I never thought I'd pick up large chunks of poop off the carpet without totally gagging. It never occurred to me that cleaning up pools of pee pee would become a daily ritual.

I never thought I'd be so FREAKIN' excited to hear another person pee pee in the potty, much less "puuweep." Such was the case just this morning. I came from our bathroom, walked through our bedroom and heard the sound of liquid going into a potty. Usually, this means Elizabeth has gone, all on her own and is doing her thang. But this morning, I heard such noise (more boldly than I'm used to) and saw Elizabeth and Ashlee resting in our bed, watching cartoons.

I quickly scanned the room looking for Lucas, then I realized that the sound of the pee pee could only come from him (plus, I was tipped off by the velocity in which his stuff was hitting the water). Peering around the corner of the bathroom, I saw the greatest site ever...my 2 (almost 3) year old son, standing in front of the potty, peeing like a champ!

What made this so awesome is that he, for the 1st time, DIDN'T come and find me and ask me to help (or to hold his "wenis.") He did it, all on his own!

Now, if you're not a parent of a potty training aged child, or if you've never been through such years, this may seem like the stupidest post ever. But can I tell you that when Lucas came back to me just 2 minutes later announcing that he needed to "puuweep" it made my heart sing.

Folks, just so you really understand, this brings my daytime diapered people down to TWO, yes TWO. Only two people who now require me to change their diapers every 2-4 hours. 3/5 of my children are now going to the potty on a regular basis. I'm blown away, super excited and a little sad that my babies are getting so big.

So now, enjoy some pictures, courtesy of the our new "easy to go potty" look. The twins are in just undies so that potty access is easy, and Elizabeth, well, she was too concerned with getting paint on her clothes....she's a little OCD.

Oh, one last thing...if you invented flushable wet wipes, I owe you, BIG time. Email me and maybe I'll hook you up with some socks or something.

**Even as I typed this post, both Lucas and Ashlee went potty all by themselves. Sweetness!**

The Drama Queen's Business

As you might remember from this post, we have been potty training Ashlee. All has been going fairly well. She still wears diapers/pull ups at nap and bedtime, but if I remember to remove said diaper, she goes in panties most of the day.

Usually we only have 1 accident a day...usually. Yesterday was the 1st time that we went in public without a backup method of protection. We went to a birthday party AND Luke and I took all 5 kids to Wal-mart. Yes, I know we're crazy...and you already knew that too if you REALLY know us.

Ashlee did quite well. We peepeed before we left the party and immediately upon our arrival at the Wal-mart. I will say, our Wal-mart has recently undergone a dramatic face lift and the bathrooms are rather nice, compared to most public bathrooms and for a Wal-mart bathroom.

She peed both times and remained dry the entire afternoon. However, after naps yesterday, I forgot to remove her diaper. When her diaper is on, she feels free to "begin" in her diaper but then she wants to finish in the potty so that she can get her prize of 2 milk chocolate chips.

She's crazy about "chocky chips" and announces to me (the second her liquid hits the water) that she needs one for her mad pottying skills.

Yesterday, she began a poop in her diaper. Now, if you know my Ashlee you know that she is chock full of Drama. How that much drama fits into a 26 lb red-head I'll never know. At any rate, she realizes that she has begun in her diaper and that poopy diapers do not equal 2 "chocky chips."

Our interaction that followed went something like this:

Ashlee: "Mom! I need to poop!"

Me: (Cutting up some fruit and totally not prepared to fly into potty helper mode) "Okay, okay, let's go!"

Ash: (Holding her diaper and said poop away from her butt) "Huhwee Mom. It's poop!"

Me: "Okay, okay, let's hurry." I get to the bathroom and realize that she's already gone some in her diaper. I clean what I can up and sit her on the potty hoping that she'll finish.

Me: "Now Ashlee, don't get off the potty without Mommy because you're bottom is dirty, okay?"

Ash: "Yes 'sam Mom."

I proceed to go back and try and figure out what I was was just doing. Don't worry, I didn't touch the fruit.

Almost immediately I hear death curling screams from the bathroom. I assume that she's fallen into the toilet because she refuses to use the potty seat. Instead, I find her standing beside the potty, pointing at the smear of poop she's left on the seat.

She's seriously screaming, clearly traumatized.

I step around her grabbing a wipe to begin cleaning up and then she sees "it." Her screams are taken to a whole new level, an ear piercing level that no human should be allowed to physically make. I think every dog in the state heard Ashlee, standing naked, smeared and smelly in the bathroom.

Her arm extends as she yells, "More poop."

She points, in horror, at a single terdlet on the floor, just by my feet. I scoop it up with a wipe and plop in the toilet. I flush and again, she is aghast.

Her favorite part of going potty (second to the chocky chips, of course) is the flushing and I have done her chore for her.

Oh my, life with a Drama Queen is not easy. Potty training a Drama Queen takes "not easy" to a whole new level.