Adventures in Potty Training 2

I am going on my third day of insanity...oops...excuse me, I mean potty training Brylee Kate. I finally went to the store and bought some pull-ups, got candy ready, printed out a sticker chart, and we started 1st thing Monday morning. I took her every 20 minutes all day long. (Until she went to her Mimi's while I went grocery shopping, though Mimi still tried to put her on there a few times.) I got nothing out of her until after dinner that night. She started crying and grabbing at her diaper so I thought she had to poop or something. We rushed to the potty and SCORE!!!!! She peed! Which I was very glad for because I was seriously about to give up the first day!! Unfortunately I'm the type person that wants, needs, HAS to see results immediately! I think you might call that impatience?

Tuesday, again I took her every 20 minutes. My friend Chelsea and I always work out on Tuesdays and I'll tell ya, it could have very well been the longest workout ever having to stop every 20 minutes. Good thing Chelsea's a wonderful gal who understands! When I saw that she was wetting her pull-up and eventually pooped in it too, I changed the time frame to every 15 minutes. Boy did that make for a long, disappointing, exhausting day!! I got absolutely NOTHING from her yesterday! Like I said, it's a good thing she peed Monday evening. Otherwise, I definitely would have given up by now!!

Almost everyone I've talked to about potty training, swears by just putting them in big girl panties and seeing where things go!! This morning, I decided to brave it out and just do it! I changed the time to every 10 minutes though! Not long after changing to panties, Brylee came running up to me pointing towards the floor on the other side of the room saying "Juice, Juice!" I thought maybe she left a cup in her toy basket the day before and she wanted me to get it out or something. Well, no. There was a huge puddle of urine near her kitchen set. So I got her all cleaned up and then the floor and her little kitchen. Eventually, she finally peed in the potty!! Not sure if this was because of the whole "panty thing", or the fact that I moved her potty chair into the living room. Because today she has sat forever in that potty chair just watching TV. I don't know, either way, she did something!! The next thing you know, she had another accident. This time, she was sitting in one of her little chairs. Her chairs open up, and I store some of her toys in there. Well the pee had gotten all inside the chair and all over her dress up clothes! Once again, I cleaned up! And once more, she peed in the potty. So far today, 2 accidents and 2 scores! And probably a BIG F now.....

I've had a little trouble this morning with her pooping in the potty. Several times, I've caught her going to another room (which means she's going to poop) and I immediately put her on the potty. I'm sure I've given her "stage fright" everytime because she ended up not doing anything. I waited and waited until I couldn't anymore. So we got in the shower and then I was going to lay her down for a nap. About 5 minutes into the shower, I saw the "poop face" going on. Fortunately, I thought ahead and set the seat right outside the shower door. I quickly set her, soaking wet, on the potty as she cried. I wasn't quite quick enough because a little turd had fallen in the floor right in front of her. As my soapy body is standing there, trying to figure out what to do with this turd in the floor, Brylee goes to try and pick it up. "Ew chocolate!" I suppose she thought! Well I did what any mother would do if they saw there child about to pick up a piece of poop!! Yeah, I may have been a little louder than normal as I told her no and SHE FREAKED OUT!!!!!!!!! She jumped up from the toilet and ran back into the shower and grabbed hold of me. Which by the way, she had pooped the rest of it out in the potty. Yay! SCOOOORE! But I'm pretty sure she is scarred and will be too freaked out to sit on the potty now. She wouldn't stop crying and shaking (not sure if that was from fear or being cold). But after that, I laid her down for a nap and she is still sleeping. Not sure how she is going to react with the potty now. But with all our hard work the past 2 1/2 days, I'm hoping we can still continue! We shall see!

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures!

For those of you, if any, who actually read my blogs, you may have noticed in some of the pictures the band aid across Brylee's face. If you didn't, then observation is not your strong suit because it's pretty obvious!

It's been well over 3 weeks now that Brylee scratched herself on the face. I take total blame for it since I'm the one responsible for keeping her nails clipped. It's such a hard thing to do though since they grow so fast. Well after scratching it she continued to mess with it and open it back up right when it started to heal. Soon I realized I was going to have to start using bandaids. It was such a hard spot to put a bandaid (right near her eye) but it had to be done. Soon she learned she could just peel them off. We have gone through so many of those round bandaids it's not even funny. And I find them everywhere!!! Under her bed, in her hair, on her clothes, in OUR bed, in a cup she was playing with, you name it!!! After all this is over, I NEVER want to see another round bandaid again! I even tried regular bandaids. It was pretty funny to see those ginormous things across her face. She peeled those off too. It has truly been a nightmare because over 3 weeks now and this sore is not getting any better and one day she's going to wonder why she has a huge scar on her nose. She does well during the day when I am around but when it comes time for nap/bed time, the picking begins! I tried scotch taping the bandaid on but she peeled the tape off. I tried liquid bandaid and that was also a huge failure! Ben thought we should try putting another bandaid somewhere on her face thinking she just wanted something to pick at and she'd forget about her actual sore. Also a failure! The next morning she woke up with our normal bandaid gone and the other random one we put on her cheek was still there! Some people have said to use super glue but I'm scared the way that she picks at those bandaids, she would have even more scratches from trying to pick at that glue. So I resorted to my desperate and hopefully, final remedy. I've been talking about it for like a week now but haven't been able to bring myself to do it. I psyched myself up for it last night though because I am so tired of dealing with this! Hopefully, with a little duct tape and a pair of socks her face will be good as new in a couple days! Yes that's right, I duct taped socks on my child's hands. I thought for sure I'd wake up this morning with the socks somehow gone and the tape still around her wrists but nope, all still there! I actually thought it would make her mad but she just stared at them! She wanted some milk before bedtime and I had to end up holding it for her like she was a baby again because her cup kept slipping out of her hands. Those grippie things on socks, in fact, do not work when it comes to trying to hold a sippy cup! FYI:This is only for sleep time. I don't make her go around like this all day long!!!

Adventures in Mommyhood-The Poop Incident

Warning to those who don't have children. You may not want to read any further.

Just recently, Brylee started enjoying showers just as much as baths. I bathe her every other day, so on "bath days" I sometimes just put her in the shower with me to "kill two birds with one stone." A couple weeks ago was one of those days. I was actually questioning whether or not I was going to put her in that day because she had not had one of her daily bowel movements. I went ahead though, and braved it! I was busy doing my thing and Brylee's was busy doing her thing playing with her bath toys when all of a sudden she stands up and she gets the "poop face" going. Turning red, eyes watering, and grunting. Yall know what face I'm talking about! That's when I began to freak out. I started looking for something, anything to try to catch these turds! I thought for a second that I would get out and get some TP and catch it but I was scared I'd be too late. Plus geez, I was soaking wet. So I just quickly went for MY wash rag and held it under her booty. Well I'm guessing my freaking out gave her what you would call "stage fright" and she didn't do anything. I quickly finished up my shower, skipping the whole shaving legs thing! Thank God she didn't do anything the rest of the time. We were safe!

That's not the end, my friends!

Yesterday was another one of those let's "kill two birds with one stone" kind of days. Again, one of those days where she had not pooped for the day. AND once again, I went ahead and braved it. Oh silly silly me. This time I wasn't so lucky. And this time, she gave me no "poop face" warning. I finished up my shower and then washed and rinsed her. All was fine and dandy! I turned the water off thinking "We did it once again. We're safe!" I wrapped her up in her towel and picked her up and she decided to lay her head on me, and she was just so still and quiet (what I thought was just cuddling). Which she doesn't do often after bath time because she hates being wrapped up in a towel. So I thought "Aw, so sweet!" That was until I smelled something. I said out loud "Girl, do you have gas? Let's hurry up and get a diaper on before you do something!" WAAAAAAY too late for that Lisa! We stepped out of the shower, I looked back and there was her surprise loaf she left Mommy on the shower floor! And apparently, stupid me, didn't have her booty covered up well enough with the towel that she was leaving a couple poop trails on the way to get her cleaned up and a diaper on her! After doing that and then getting the floor cleaned up, I noticed I had dried poop marks on my thigh, I guess where she was leaving poop trails and it hit my leg and I never felt it. Aaaaaaah the wonderful joys of Mommyhood. I say it often and I will say it again, I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world!

On another note, my sweet girl woke up that night (at midnight) throwing up! It broke my heart. This was her first time to throw up and I'm sure she was more scared than anything because she didn't know what was happening to her. I couldn't have done it without my wonderful husband who actually cleaned up the first puke, it being the biggest of them all, all over our living room floor.

Adventures in Mommyhood!

No need to go to the movies! Just come watch Lisa and Brylee in Dollar General! Monday night, I made a run there. My mother-in-law had found some cute fall dish towels and rags for cheap. When I got there, I figured I would just carry Brylee instead of getting out the stroller or wiping down a cart. It wouldn't take me but a second to look at that ONE thing. HAH! I can't ever go in anywhere and get just one thing! Who was I kidding? I remembered Ben needed some plastic ware to take to work with him in the morning so I went and grabbed two bags. Then I found the towels and realized, "I don't want them now." I am the world's worst about that! Walking towards the front to check out, I realized I needed a dessert for a meeting at the church the next night. So I go and grab some brownies. I get to the front and see the Rachael Ray October magazine. So of course I had to get that too. So you're thinking, "that really isn't much" but keep in mind, I also was holding my wallet and phone. Not to mention a 20+ pound wiggly toddler too! It's finally our turn to check out and thankfully it didn't take until then that Brylee starts slipping out of my arms. So I thought, "what the heck, let me put her down." HUGE mistake! As I'm standing there, Brylee is clinging on to my clothes just like she ALWAYS does. Not complaining though. I'm glad she likes to stay near me instead of trying to escape somewhere. Anyways, Brylee some how begins to lose her balance. She decides that she is going to try to save herself by using MY shorts!! Ah, yes, I got half-way "pantsed" right there in Dollar General. I luckily had on a t-shirt so I DON'T THINK much was seen. AND luckily I was quick enough to grab on to my shorts and pull them back up before they reached my knees. In the mean time, trying to save myself from complete embarrassment, I selfishly let my child land flat on her back right there in the nasty Dollar General store floor! I picked her up and of course she was screaming crying all while I was trying to swipe my card all red faced wondering how much of my "wears" were seen. She finally settled down when I handed her my phone and she began "talking" on it as though nothing ever happened! As I walked out, I yelled, "Hope all of you enjoyed the show!" Okay not really but I wanted to! Hey the positive in this situation. I was able to be good birth control for the young fella checking us out!

Embarassing Fight With a Bee

If you know me at all, you know that I am terrrrrified of bugs. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter. I get the "heebie jeebies" just as badly if I have to pick up a dead spider. When I have to kill a bug my typical reaction is jumping up and down, screeching, getting chills, or breathing heavily. If you ever need a laugh, just come watch me work in my flower beds! I know my neighbors think I'm probably crazy. When I was teaching 1st grade, I had a spider in my classroom, and I had to get one of my little boys to come kill it for me. Pathetic you're thinking? But just wait. When I was still living at my parents house, I think I was in college by then, a wasp got in the house. I actually called my mom at work and told her she HAD to come home and kill it. Luckily she only worked a couple minutes from the house. Otherwise I don't know what I would have done. She tried to give me a pep talk and get me to kill it myself but that wasn't happening. She said she'd be on her way so I went outside until she got there! Now that's pathetic! My Friday incident sort of reminded me of that.

Brylee and I had just gotten home. We were going to be leaving for the lake when Ben got home from work. I was mostly packed but just had a few last minute things to do so I went to sit Brylee in the floor to play. Before I could even get her to the ground, I heard this buzzing noise on my head. This is the same buzzing sound I hear everytime I go out to the garage. Apparently, a bee had landed on my headband somewhere between getting out of the car, getting Brylee out, and heading inside. I just wish I would have realized it before I went inside, unleashing this "beast" into my house! It was an angry bee, no lie!

So as soon as I heard the buzzing sound on my head I started doing my typical swatting, squealing, jumping, all with Brylee on hip! Yes! He disappeared! For a minute. I set Brylee down in the floor and went in the kitchen to prepare for the war I was about to have with this angry, mean bee. I grabbed a towel determined that I wasn't going to lose! I heard the loud buzzing sound and was relieved for a minute when I saw him high up in the window above our front door. I was hoping he would just make himself at home up there until Ben got home. Yeah right Lisa! He spotted me looking at him and flew right for me landing on my shirt. 2nd panic attack began, this time jumping, squealing, and slinging that dadgum towel around that wasn't doing me a bit of good. All while doing this, Brylee is just staring at her crazy momma and I guess because of my psychotic behavior she starts crying. I go to pick her up and the bee has once again disappeared. I hear that awful buzzing sound, this time spotting him in the kitchen windows. I stand there thinking about what I'm going to do. Stupid bee didn't even give me time to think before he starts flying 50 miles an hour at me and Brylee. I am not exaggerating either! ;) 3rd panic attack, this time no jumping, no squealing, no swatting. Just hightailing it out the door! Yes, a bee chased me out of my own home! Sad, I know. I lost the fight but I didn't care.

Brylee and I ended up hanging outside (just like last time) until Ben got home, which was only about 10 minutes. I actually was hoping my neighbor would have been home because I would have asked them to come over and kill it! When Ben got home, of course the stupid thing wasn't anywhere in sight. So I finished my last minute packing, feeling a little skiddish because I knew it was in the house somewhere, probably watching me, getting ready to attack! When we started getting ready to go put our stuff out in the car, Ben saw it fly right into Brylee's bag and killed it! ::sigh:: Huge relief!! We got our bags in the car and as we are heading out the door I realize I still have my weapon (the towel) over my shoulder getting ready to take it to the lake I suppose! Hey, I can never be too prepared I guess!