Getting closer!

We have been working. Working. So. Hard. Trying to get Caden potty-trained. The reason we've been really working on it is because we can tell he knows what's up; he's just being stubborn. He goes at school, so ergo, you would think he would go at home, right?

Not so much.

Until Friday night.

He had been in bed until I got home late from a district UIL meet and I walked in his room when I got home at 9:00 pm. He was awake so I laid down with him and I could tell he was NOT going to go to sleep anytime soon. So...we let him up for a little while longer.

At 10:05 (I know - we're horrible parents) I told him it was time he really went to bed for the night, and I asked him if he wanted to go potty. He said (screamed), "NOOO!"

I then had an epiphany.

I asked, "Caden, do you want to go potty on the BIIIIG potty?"

He said, "Uh uh" and walked off. He got his stool and told me to turn the light on. He pulled his shorts and his pullup down, stepped on the stool, and lifted the seat - such a big man. He stood there for a few seconds and let out a few sighs. I thought it was a no-go, but then - he grinned at me real big and I saw the stream going in the potty.

CADEN WENT POTTY!!!! For the first time at home!!!!

I was so excited. I then gave him a little toy that I had been saving for this auspicious occasion. Stan wouldn't let me take a picture, much less post that on the blog. Doo-doo head.

We didn't have such luck yesterday, but we bought him some sidewalk chalk today and I told him this afternoon that if he wanted to play with it, he needed to go potty again. He tried to tell me a few times that he had gone potty, but he flushed before I got in there so I don't think he really did.

I told him I had to see it before he could play with the chalk.

He said, "OK" and walked in there. Same routine as Friday ending with him peeing in the big potty. Proof, I tell you, that he is just stubborn and pig-headed.

I went outside with him and we played with the chalk!

Now what do I use for incentive now???

Can't get offended

Last night at the Aalbers' house...

I'm sitting in my chair when Caden drives up to me on his digger. I put my foot up to make sure he didn't run me down.

Caden: (pointing at my foot) That's yucky.

Me: laughing my patooty off

Caden: Yucky, yucky, yucky!

Me: Caden, that's mean!

Caden: It's OK. (Pointing to his own foot) Yucky too.

You can't pay for entertainment like this, folks.

Hospitals are our friends

I was lurking on a blog the other day - one that I frequent - and the post really made me stop and think, and the more I thought about it, the more irate I became. You see, the author is pregnant with her 2nd child and this time around, she's doing the whole midwife / home delivery thing.

I could not disagree with her more.

When I was pregnant with Caden I gave about 10 minutes of thought to the idea of a home birth. Enough time to say, "Gee, I guess that's an option; what would that entail?" After a few minutes, I decided that no, that most certainly was not for me.

And it's a good thing, too.

Because if I had? I wouldn't be a mom right now. I wouldn't have had a baby to bring home from the hospital. I wouldn't have ever known Caden.

We had a prolapsed cord situation and 5 minutes after my doctor discovered it, my son was born via emergency C-section. We're talking straight off an ER script - my 8-months-pregnant doctor is riding on my gurney with her hand holding Caden's head off the cord; nurses are yelling "STAT"; doctors and nurses are running from every direction in the hospital; cords are flying. The last thing I remember is them POURING iodine on my stomach and asking me how much I weighed so they would get the anesthesia right. (I was oh so tempted to lie and say "a buck twenty", but you don't want to lie when numbing is at stake).

The doctor looked at my husband afterwards and said, "That's why you have babies in hospitals."

So I feel mighty strongly against the whole home birth thing. Isn't that what people in the 1800s did??? Didn't we have a lot of babies and WOMEN die in childbirth???

My stomach churns when I hear someone say they are more "comfortable" giving birth at home.

Me? I'm more "comfortable" knowing life-saving equipment and a staff of medical personnel are there to save my baby if needs be.

A long overdue 'thankful' post

It's been awhile since I last did one of these, so without the alliteration, here's my 'Thankful Saturday'.

1. An extremely well-adjusted and happy child
2. Kids who make me laugh all day
3. A very fulfilling job; I get to feel like I'm making a difference
4. Great teachers to work with
5. Spring Break - mine is THIS week!
6. Good friends I'm still connected with
7. A husband who enjoys talking to me
8. Parents who will drop what they're doing to watch Caden when necessary
9. Never having to have paid anyone to watch Caden
10. Digital cameras
11. Nora Roberts books
12. A husband who will let me enjoy Nora Roberts books
13. A son who loves reading as much as I do
14. Franklin Covey planners
15. Golds Gym
16. Quality time on my best girlfriend's porch
17. A car that has 96,000+ miles (in 3 1/2 years!) on it & gets AWESOME gas mileage!
18. The writers' strike is over - bring on 'House'!
19. Upward season is over & I have my husband back on Saturdays!
20. There's a chance the dirt is on the way out of my driveway - stay tuned...

Incentive

Today a friend brought her new baby up to school to show her off and she is absolutely precious.

But I was more interested in the stroller.

That and the matching diaper bag are almost enough to make me want to have another baby.

Today

Want to know what I did today?

I kept nineteen 17-year-olds absolutely quiet - not a peep - for FIVE and a HALF HOURS! With only a small 30-minute break for lunch in there.

Why would I ever attempt such a feat?

TAKS, my darling - the wonderful test of all tests.

Now I just have to convince them that we still have to work for the rest of the year...