Housekeeping

I just ordered the book Organic Housekeeping from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. Cannot WAIT to receive it! I had borrowed it from the library about a month ago, read thru most of it, took lots of notes and realized that I needed to have it in my possession as a "manuel" of sorts! It has helped me tremendously in my housekeeping, my desire to use non-toxic chemicals as I clean and to spend the least amount of time possible doing that cleaning!

A few "items" I discovered that makes my cleaning even easier is Bon Ami cleanser, baking soda & vinegar. I already knew about the latter two but the Bon Ami ... it's amazing! And it's been around since the late 1800's - go figure!

Now that I've got the ingredients I just need to actually put it into practice!! I'm still not yet cleaning my bathrooms once a week ... it will happen tho, I'm determined!

just in the nick of time...

Could hear Josiah "talking" himself to sleep (sounds more like "eh, eh, eh" than real talking. Sounded like he was out and so I went in to grab a stuffed animal that Ellie wanted ... Josiah was on his horse, eyes shut, swaying from side to side - about to fall off! I'm SO glad that I went in at that moment and swooped him into bed. Now that he's in his own bed I'll need to pay closer attention!

Adventures in Potty Training

Whenever we go out of the house Josiah does wonderful going potty! On Saturday we went blueberry picking at a local farm and on our way there he said, "I gotta go potty". We pulled over to the side of the road and sure enough, he had to go!

Yesterday he woke up and had his bm before he even got out of bed. We left the house @ 11ish and were gone until 3ish. While at the zoo Josiah went potty twice and did not pee in his training pants at all! It was great! We got home and after his nap he had only pee'd a tiny bit in his waterproof training pants. The rest of the evening went well. Today I kept his training pants off after b-fast because I knew that a bm was coming. About 2 hours after waking up he started dancing around running back and forth to the potty chair and back to play. Finally he sat on the potty, asked me to "hold him" and he poo'd! I acted too quickly tho ... took the potty chair to the bathroom (while putting him in training pants) and when I came back he had gone more ... apparently he wasn't finished! About an hour later Ellie came inside telling me that Josiah had taken his underwear off ... I looked outside and he had gone poop and decided to take them off. Kudos for not wanting to play in dirty underpants! I rinsed him off in the shower and the rest of the morning before nap he kept peeing in his pants or on the floor with only a couple times in the toilet.

I don't understand it ... at the zoo he'll go more than an hour w/o peeing and then at home I can't even keep track of any pattern! I just need to be his personal assistant and not let him out of my site ... of course then I wouldn't get anything done ... no lunch, the other kids wouldn't be cared for ... but perhaps there is a fine line that I'm not yet walking to get this kid fully trained! Perhaps I'm the one that needs some training!! Only 9 more days before we go out of town ... I better turn up the heat!

Outing with the kiddos

Yesterday we had some errands to do in Simi (the town next to us). I loaded up the kids after Josiah had his bm and off we went. The kids HAD to bring their blankets and when we got out of the truck to go to the bank Ellie insisted on bringing hers with her. Josiah had on his little backpack (with a convenient leash for mom) and kept informing me that he was "Buzz Lightyear"! I told the kids to go sit on the chairs once we got inside and I went up to the teller. Ellie spent her time setting up her blanket so her doggy could sit on the chair safely. Josiah was running around all the chairs and trying to climb up them (on the sides) proclaiming loudly, "I Buzz Lightyear"! I wish I had had a video camera it was so funny - especially when their two "agendas" collided!

On another note Josiah did WONDERFUL out. He never once peed in his underwear and was very responsive when I would set up his potty chair and tell him to go!

in love ...

This is very strange for me to say ... but it's very rare that a "chick-flick" actually causes me to fall more in love with the man I am married to. I think most movies aimed at women and relationships are meant to cause us to envy and want MORE than we currently have. I could be wrong, but that's usually the impression I get. Not tonight, however. I watched 'Leap Year' with Amy Adams (who I absolutely love) and ended the movie really thankful for my husband AND for how the Lord brought us together 10 years ago. It really was a "fairy-tale" story in a lot of ways, and although the road hasn't always been easy I am SO glad to be where I am today!

it was a little gross

Day 3 in potty training Josiah. We met in a park w/ some friends in the morning for Church so I told Josiah he was a big boy and put underwear on him for the day. Every 20 minutes or so I had him sit on the potty and he did pretty good. . . until he had his bm. Changed that and he did well again. Got home and he played in the playroom after naptime. During that time he went all by himself to the potty, carried it to the bathroom AND flushed it down the toilet. Don't get to excited tho ... he must have somehow got some of it out and walked w/ it all the way to the kitchen. Needless to say I cleaned up a lot of poo yesterday.

Day 4 (today). We were getting ready to go to the zoo w/ some friends. I was preparing lunch when Ellie came in to say that, "Josiah went poop"! Great. Spent the next 15 minutes cleaning, wiping, disinfecting (thank GOD it was on the tile). Thought he was done. Went to wash out the potty chair ... he wasn't done. Came back to find yet another pile to clean up. Yuck. The zoo was uneventful. Josiah did great! He peed in his underwear on the way there (but it was a waterproof) and then I just sat him on his potty every 20 minutes or so. He LOVED it ... I could tell he felt like he was big and important like sister Ellie. On the way home he fell asleep, we ended up at Costco and when he woke up I put them in the bed of the truck and then proceeded to get the potty chair out and set up. That's when he said, "I pee in my underwear." Thanks Jo ... at least that's all it was. At home tonight things went well. A couple of accidents and he even ALMOST made it to the potty chair for his bm ... he made it to the paper - good job! Now I just need to make him SIT until he is completely DONE!

I'm not giving up! Gonna press in even harder tomorrow!

no more diapers: day 1 & 2

Yesterday was the day we told Josiah he was a big boy and didn't need diapers anymore - except at night (of course). The day started off good. Caught him "bearing down" for a bm mid-morning. Stuck the potty chair under him, which was met with a little bit of resistance, and then happily flushed it down the toilet! The rest of the day we had a couple little accidents (pee) here and there - but I just kept reminding him that he was a big boy and needed to go on the potty! Caught his second bm right before dinner ... then after dinner I forgot what we were doing and realized he was in the playroom all alone. I ran in to find that he had squished his bm into the carpet - at least it was in the playroom. YUCK! I knew it wasn't going to be completely smooth sailing but this was a bit gross ... But on a good note he was proclaiming to all of us at the dinner table that he was not wearing diapers anymore!

Today has gone better so far. This morning he was dancing around in the playroom obviously needing to go #2. I kept offering him his potty chair and he kept refusing. Finally after about 20 minutes or so of that he laid down on the ground and asked for a diaper. Um ... NO! Stuck him on the potty chair and all came out good! During the first part of his nap he was NOT sleeping and I heard him thru the monitor asking to go pee! Good boy! Then once he was up he was crying a lot and I could tell we were dealing w/ yet another bm. He finally stopped being clingy and I left him in his playroom for 2 minutes ... came back and there it was on the ground - but this time I was smart and put down a covering on the ground!

Almost bedtime so we'll do this again tomorrow! In 17 days we are going on a trip so I must have him potty trained by then!