Friday, February 13, 2015

Potty Training Frustrations

Well as many of you moms have been through the trials and tribulations of potty training I'm going to post about the experience we've been having with Olivia. We officially started potty training just after Christmas when she started asking to pee on the potty. We used the age of reward system and everything seemed to be going very well for Olivia. She could even stay dry after a whole day of outings. I was so thrilled. Potty training can be such a nightmare I was so thankful that she was doing well. Then something changed last week. She now cries when you put her on the potty and has been refusing to pee. On Wednesday we had a very rough morning, she had three accidents and I was getting very frustrated. What happened to my sweet girl who always used the potty. So I persisted, started taking her every 30minutes and finally just after supper I was rewarded with a successful pee. Everyone made a big deal and I gave her a toy that we had bought previously and tucked away for when we would need it. The next day she was better we didn't have any accidents and I thought well now's she's back to being the well trained little girl I raised. But today we are back to crying and not wanting to pee again. In anticipation of this I bought a couple more clearance toys to bribe her with, since candy wasn't working anymore, and we've had it sitting on the counter just waiting for her to have a success, but instead she pees on the floor. I'm starting to feel like we are going backwards. What makes a child who was almost completely potty trained revert back? I don't know! Do you? I will keep persevering and hope that we get back to wear we were soon, but in the meantime I will lean on the words from Psalm 46 GOD is our refuse and strength and ever-present help in trouble. I will leave you with this image!
Help MOMMY's having a bad day! Call 1-800-grandma





Family of 4 doesn't suit anymore

Well it's been a few years since I updated my blog. Many things have changed. Emily is now almost 8, and Rebecca who we call Becca is 5 and in preschool, we've added a third child to our family. Olivia was born over 2 yrs ago.
Here's an updated picture of our beautiful family.
 
In the past year many things have changed.
For Emily: Emily started grade 2 this year and although she doesn't love school she is still doing really well. Emily also started her 5th year of skating this fall. She's now in junior star skate and is learning new jumps all the time. Last week she learned how to do the sow cow. I love to watch her glide around the ice. She's currently practicing to complete her first test, which will happen sometime in febuary. She's been practicing very hard and is getting tired of doing the same thing all the time, but if she passes her test I believe that will be reward enough. She also has developed psoriasis this fall, which has been a learning process for us all.
 
For Rebecca: Rebecca turned 5 in December and is full of life and character. She has been attending Pebbles preschool since October and loves going to school. She also started her second year of ballet in the fall, she hasn't been enjoying her ballet as much as she did last year. In January we moved her into a more advanced class in hoped that being more challenged would help her keep her focus, so far it seems to be working some. Rebecca has decided she wants to marry her preschool teachers son, because she wants her teacher to her her mom. Some Mother's might find that offensive, but I don't. I love how much love Becca has to give and the way she adores her teacher couldn't be any cuter. Rebecca is looking forward to joining Emily in Chestor Ronning school next year as she will be starting kindergarten.
 
For Olivia: Olivia turned two this past November and has more personality then any other little girl I know. She loves her sisters and is always willing to give hugs and kisses. Olivia is they shyest of all our children, she doesn't like strangers and won't go to anyone like the other girls would, but once she warms up to you, she will reward you with many cuddles and hugs. We had a few struggles in the last year with Olivia. It started last February when she started to refuse to eat. It took many months and lots of stress to finally figure out that she can't eat gluten. Now that we've been off of gluten for a while she's doing much better and looking and acting like herself again.
 
 
Keith and I: I have been learning lots of new things since Olivia can't have gluten. I bake more then ever before, and try new recipes on a weekly basis. Some turn out well and others not a good. I enjoy staying home with Olivia and Becca now.
 
In the summer we added a dog named Sadie to our family. She's a great companion and love nothing more then playing fetch and chasing the cats. All of the girls love Sadie.
 
Keith has been doing snow removal and lawn care. The summers are nice and relaxing and we enjoy spending many weekends in our trailer. This winter has been a bit strange for Keith. We haven't got a lot of snow, but he spent many days pouring ice melt on the sidewalks and it was very mild this January.
 
Well there's an update from me to you. I'm hoping to post more often about our daily journey. The struggles and the blesses of raising my family.