potty training

potty training sucks!
we started potty training the last week of may and are now done. done and back in diapers. we tried rewards, bribing, losing toys, praise, the "big boy" reasoning, and even dr. phil's one day, sure to get your toddler out of diapers and in the big boy underwear once and for all method. that was the last straw. the boy does not want to use the potty. i can get him to go by telling him to every so often - but that's not having him trained, that's picking a fight with him ten times a day. after trying dr. phil's method and friday and having NO PROGRESS and talking with a friend at church who just finished training her third, we decided to call it quits for a while. if you would have said to me a year ago that kids go when they are ready, i would have said that was due to lazy parenting - kids go when they are trained to... today i say they go when they are ready and you can't make them. if it IS a control issue, we have to back off so he can have control over it, right? so now we are back in diapers and don't talk about it. we'll try again in a couple weeks and see if he's ready then. those "signs of readiness" are worthless to me. he CAN stay dry, and follow simple directions - all of that, it's the showing interest that he lacks. so i'm sad that i wasted 2 months fighting this battle for nothing - btw, he made NO progress in 2 months - but now we don't talk about it and i change his diaper a few times a day and the stress level in our house is way down. so i leave you with what my friend holly told me: don't the pressure of other parents' expectaions dictate your parenting or make you feel pressure to conform to what they think you should do.

4th of july

i realize this is out of order, but i didn't get any pics from the 4th, so i had to wait on my mom to send some - our family rented a pool, got some buddy's bbq along with mom's baked beans, janet's cole slaw, and grandma's potato salad, mmmmm - that's a party. nathan was a hit as he caught the boys as the flew down the slide... jace... caleb... then gavin. and there's grandma walking carly. she made an appearance in the swim suit, but we didn't get a picture this time - carly, not grandma.

the night ended with nathan, caleb and i, sitting in the driveway in pjs watching the random acts of fireworks in our neighborhood. the next night, nathan and caleb drove down the street to catch grace's fireworks - he's been asking for fireworks every night since. by the way, some of them squeek like a mouse, he says, they are also very bu-t-ful.

at the pool

we had small group at the pool last night - we ended a series last weeks and will start a new one next week. in between the pizza and popcicles, here's my family in the water. caleb loves his water wings and his dad, and carly was pretty content in her little float, in her hot little salmon colored swim suit. after 3 popcicles over the course of the evening, he got one more because he peed in the potty there! he won't hardly do it any other time, but hey - he can have an extra popcicle for that. then he was up most of the night - crying - yes, the 2.5, almost 3yr old, not the baby. popsicles kept him up, maybe? either way, not a good night, makes for a rough day - no more 4 popsicle evenings in our future.

Gavin is 2!

happy 2nd birthday, gavin! we went to my brother's house friday for gavin's 2nd birthday party. gavin loves to play baseball - he has spent this past spring watching his big brother, jace (seen here standing on the side line), play, for real. i know what you think, how cute - the little boy is swinging the bat at the ball. what you don't know is he knocks the crap out of a ball, and what you can't see is everyone else in the living room with their hands ready to guard their face every time he swings. in fact, carly and i left the room to watch from the kitchen, just in case. this incredible display of athleticism will probably stay outside from here on out. gavin got several bats, a couple of balls, and my brother and his wife got him a "t" stand - which he took a few swings at, and took the whole stand out a time or two. he's an awesome 2yr old!

so after all the swinging, it was time for cake. here gavin is, screaming as we sang "happy birthday" to him. i think he did this at his first birthday party, but i can't remember, or find any pictures to back that up. not to worry, he calmed down and had some cake, later to be found on the back porch swinging with caleb. he was also pretty interested in carly, as you can see him giving her a big smooch.

this IS a test

as i attempt to parent my high energy toddler, i remind myself.... this is a test. part of a 2yr old's purpose in life is to test their boundaries. they push and push because they need to know what the rules are and where the boundaries are. i try to be diligent when i choose my battles, to chose them wisely, and once the battle has begun, to remember that i cannot back down. there are many times i feel like my incredibly fabulous child is pushing me to my limit... wait a minute, that's exactly what he is doing... he IS looking for the boundaries. he IS learning what he can and cannot do. this IS his disposition at this point in his life. so with all this pushing going on, during those times that i come close to losing it with him, i remind myself... this IS a test.

and here's a couple of pictures of my kids:

quotes from nana

so last night my mom held carly for a little bit before we took off to small group. suddenly, nana cried out: "i've never heard a baby fart like that before" - that's my girl :)