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Monday, March 29, 2010

Potty Training Update

Anthony is currently on his 5th sticker potty chart!

HOORAY!! :)
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The circled dinos are doo-doos. HAHA!


He continues to be pretty good about telling us when he has to go. He is even starting to count 1-2 when we put each leg in his underwear and pull them up. Too cute.


We've had a few hickups though.


He's had a couple accidents in his underwear, so obviously we still put on a diaper for nap time, bed time, and whenever we go somewhere. Though occasionally he's been great about letting us know he has to go potty when we're out even though he knows he has a diaper on. I have a 2-go foldable Spongebob potty seat that is just the cutest thing! Last week we went to the store and he told me he had to go. I was frantically searching in the car for the dang potty seat, thinking I had for sure put it in there. Guess not. We continue to run into K-mart and head for the bathroom. It was difficult to get him to sit on the toilet, it was so big...and I'm sure he didn't dig sitting on a 2 inch thick padding of toilet paper to keep the yuckies away. We wound up getting pee everywhere but in the toilet.


Note to self: Remember to put 2-go potty seat in the car. For real.


One day I forgot to put a diaper on him for nap time and I don't know if he was dreaming about waterfalls or what, but his waterfall wound up all over my couch. It took a long time to clean that all up and get rid of the smell. Ugh. I don't forget to put one on now.

He has started to use having to go wee wee as an excuse to get out of time out. The little bugger!! To try and fix that I'm letting him go, but having him finish up his TO when he's done on the potty. He doesn't like this, so I'm hoping he'll learn to just get his TO over and done with instead of trying to get out of it.

Potty Training Goals:
Undies for all waking hours. Including outside play and on the go. I foresee many changes of clothing in the future. :) I'd like to achieve this goal by his 3rd birthday the end of June. Wish me luck!

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My little guy in his cute undies! :)

With love,
Mama Hauck

Sunday, March 28, 2010

A Beautiful Morning

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February 10, 2010

I did a double take at the calendar today when I saw it was the 28th. That makes Miss Molly 9 months old!! That also means in 3 months time she will be a year.....and Anthony will be 3. Where does the time go? I don't even want to close my eyes in fear of opening them back up and seeing them all grown. That little lump in my throat has become all to familiar to me lately...I get so choked up. It seems every time I turn around Mols is learning something new and Anth is spitting out a word I'd never heard him say before. Baby Molly, how did you do that!? Hammer? When did you learn that word!?

*sigh*

On Friday Sammy had the day off from work. Anthony woke up and came running to our room at 8:15. He crawled into bed and snuggled between us, turning from Mama to Papa and giving us kisses. He is always so dang happy when he realizes Papa is home and not gone at work. Shortly thereafter Molly woke up. We all heard a little cry and Anthony, being the silly boy he is, throws his cupped hand up to his ear and exclaims, "What's that!? Baby's awake!!" Papa went and got her, carrying her into the room legs all kicking, huge grin on her face. It was sweet watching them bounce around the bed without a care in the world, giggling up a storm. Pretty soon we found ourselves watching Sesame Street and munching on Corn Pop cereal. It was a beautiful morning. I couldn't think of anything I would have rather been doing then snuggling with my babies. I often wonder how long it will be before they wont want to cuddle in bed with us anymore. I hope not for a long, long time.

With love,
Mama Hauck

Friday, March 19, 2010

Chocoholics Anonymous


Hello, my name is Rebecca and not only am I a Mama, I'm a chocoholic.


I don't know how it's come to this. I've tried over and over and over again to quit. I can not stop with just one bite. All day I think about when I'm going to have my next piece of chocolate. Be it candy, ice cream, cake, brownies....ohh the endless choices! Sweet, sweet chocolate. You are NO good for me. True they say an ounce of dark chocolate a day can be beneficial to your health. But lets not lie now, an ounce a day? I eat FAR more than that. THIS IS NOT HELPING IN THE WEIGHT DEPARTMENT. Remember when I said love handles and belly pooch continue to be my friend? Chocolate is why. Well, chocolate, my failing metabolism, and my non existent friendship with exercise.

When I was pregnant, I made a cake and ate the WHOLE thing. But don't think that disgusting act of cake selfishness was only due to pregnancy. I've made a batch of brownies and devoured the pan before my husband came home (don't judge me!). I've made mass amounts of chocolate chip cookie batter and wound up only having enough left for a dozen cookies. When I go to a party and find the cake isn't chocolate, I'm extremely disappointed. I even contemplate leaving. (HAHA, kidding!). I've made my husband drive the 15 miles to town and 15 miles back just to get me something chocolate from DQ. But he wound up wanting something from DQ too, so that's how I justify that one. I make cakes for no special reason at all. Then I have a piece with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner until its all gone. After Halloween I helped myself to my son's candy multiple times a day knowing he's too young to notice. I frequently request chocolate chips be put in my pancakes. I find trail mix doesn't have enough M&Ms or chocolate in it....so I add my own. The ratio ends up like this:


Nuts:20
Raisins:10
Chocolate:100

This is all very sad, I know. The saddest of all is my addiction seems to be rubbing off on Anthony. The poor boy, he doesn't stand a chance! His universal word for all food is "cookie" or "pie." NO LIE. What have I done?? He picks the chocolate out of the trail mix. At least I eat everything. He'll eat the chocolate chips out of the pancakes and discard the rest. He loves the gooey centers of brownies. He'll dip his strawberries in chocolate fondue, lick it all off, and repeat. x 100.
I'm afraid my little gal is destined to be a chocoholic as well. Molly will sometimes longingly stare at my chocolate pudding or frosting. Is it so wrong that I've swiped a little on her tongue? Yes. Yes it is. Point proven by the slightly odd poo presented by her the next day. From this day forward I vow to wait till she's at least....1....to reintroduce chocolate. ;)

I'm still waiting for CA ( like AA, but CA - haha!) meetings to come into existence. I'd have to attend.


With love,

Mama Hauck

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Only a Mama Knows...

The most wonderful wake up call you can ever receive is the sound of your little one's tiny feet pitter pattering across the floor to come cuddle with you in bed.

I rolled over on to my side and closed my eyes tight so when Anthony came in he would think I were still asleep. I heard him slide the door open, shuffle over to my side of the bed, and stop. I
was trying so hard not to laugh as he said, "Shh, Mama. Mama sleeping." and patted my head! I'm glad it was a pat on the head this time, in the past I've received pokes to the eyeballs. lol! Such a sweet little boy. He must always know when I'm faking. :)


I opened my eyes, smiled, grabbed him, and launched him clear over me into the bed. I tickled and tickled and tickled him some more until I was afraid he might pee the bed from laughing so hard! I asked him if he had to go wee-wee, and he promptly answered with a "NO!" Well that's good I thought. We lied there all snuggled amongst the 20 or so blankets and fluffy pillows and looked at the many photos on the walls. Anthony likes to point to them and tell me who's in them.


"That's Papa, Papa! Look! Papa! And Baby. Mama! Where's Papa?"

"Papa's at work, Papa's bye-bye."

"Bye-bye? Where's bike?"

"Bike's outside....sleeping." haha


He then leaned over and gave me a kiss on the head. "Muuaah!"

"Thanks baby, I love you!"

"I la tu, Mama."


We heard Molly waking up talking to herself in her crib. I asked Anthony if we should go get her to come cuddle with us. Again he promptly answered with a "No!" HAHA! Cuddle time over. :)

Sure beats your alarm clock, huh?


With love,

Mama Hauck


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March 6, 2010 Anthony and Mama

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Neat And Clean Freak In Me

I have calluses on my hands. No biggy, yeah? How'd you get them, you ask? Well, not from spending a weekend outside enjoying yard work. Though that would be easy to picture. Shoveling dirt, raking dirt, moving stones, etc. Yard work can be hard on the hands. No, I had them loooong before this past weekend. Promise not to laugh at me? *sigh* They're from sweeping my floor.

See, I'm a little bit of a neat and clean freak. More like a lot a bit. I don't know when this all first came to be. I've been this way for as long as I can remember. I use to work as a house keeper in a Best Western Hotel. I LOVED IT. Who else can say that? I got to make beds, clean bathrooms, and restock kitchenettes all day long. Oh the joy! Every little thing had its place. Everything had to be cleaned the right way (which, coincidentally, was MY way) and in a timely fashion. It was Heaven.

I guess you could say cleaning is one of my hobbies. A hobbie is an activity you enjoy doing, right? Well, I enjoy cleaning and putting everything in its rightful place. So it's a hobbie. Or maybe a quirk? In any case, let me not bore you with past stories and details of my neat and clean freak life. What matters is how it affects my life today. My life of as a Mama.


Please refer to this simple equation for the answer:


Children + Neat and clean freak mama =
Mama taking a long bath with drink in hand at the end of the day while Papa watches children for the sake of her sanity


Having children running (and crawling) about your house is hard and tiring in itself. If you're a Mama, I don't have to tell you that. But add in the fact that I can't go a day without vacuuming, sweeping the floors multiple times, wiping counters like it was going out of style, making sure every hand soap, end table coaster, accent pillow and picture frame are in place....I'm running on empty at day's end. Being a neat and clean freak with children just doesn't work. Well, it doesn't work well. Gosh, I know, I know! It's my fault!! But I simply can not help it.

I feel the need to explain my excessive sweeping....for all those that might see me as just a freak instead of a neat and clean freak (which is far better than just being a freak....I think).


1) I have dogs. They shed, making up much of what I sweep. I hate it.
2) My husband and son don't always take their shoes off after being outside in our yard which is mostly just dirt. This gets tracked in all the time making up the rest of what I sweep.
3) I have a crawler in the house....she crawls all in the dirt and dog hair getting it on ever inch of her cute little
body.
4) My son insists on playing with his blankets on the floor getting dog hair all over them and then carrying
them off to his bed getting hair and dirt in his bed.
5) I don't like wearing socks or slippers all the much, I prefer to be barefoot. This doesn't mix well with dirty
floors.

In order to keep all this mess at bay, it is necessary to sweep multiple times a day. Creating previously stated calluses by an unforgiving broom stick. Maybe I need a new broom? I told my husband, Sammy, that I wanted a new broom for Christmas. I think he thought I was joking. If you would like to contribute to the "Rebecca Needs A New Broom To Further Prevent Any Future Calluses Fund," please post a comment with your credit card #, expiration date, security code, and name that appears on card. Thanks! ;)


Would you like to know some more quirks that come with being a neat and clean freak? Would you like to poke fun at me and laugh at my expense? Please stay tuned. There is much, MUCH more to share.


With love,
Mama Hauck

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Potty Training 101


You're definitely a Mama when you want to shout to the world the great success of your potty training efforts. So lets get right to the shouting.


MY SON ROCKS!!! WAHOO!!!!!

If you just thought to yourself, "She's a nutcase, who cares?" - then you are not a parent. And I hope one day you will experience the great joy one feels when your child takes a big 'ol poo on the potty. Until then, go ahead and consider me a nut.

YIPPIE!!
I have put forth much blood, sweat and tears into this endeavor. OK, maybe not blood. And not sweat. But definitely tears, darn it. I use to wonder if my son's days with diapers would ever come to an end. Now I see the light at the end of the tunnel! For we have and continue to have potty success!! I do not have all the answers. I don't do everything perfectly or by the book. I am no expert, this is after all my first go-around. But if you stick with me here, I will share with you all my secrets and what worked for my son and I. Maybe you too will soon see little toddler logs in your potty. :) These are the things I have learned:
1) First and foremost....patience is a virtue. It is very true when people say your child is ready when they are ready and not when you are ready. No amount of willful thinking on my part was getting my sweet little boy closer to the potty. And no, strong arming them into it does not work. Just for the record. LOL! Children will control two thing: what they put in and what they put out. I heard that from Dr. Phil one time...and other resources as well. ;) You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Likewise, you can lead a child to the potty, but you can't make him wee-wee. *Sigh* So be patient. I know you hate hearing that. But, please don't shoot the messenger.

2) Monkey see, monkey doo-doo (HA! Did you like that one?). I don't know about you all, but I figured if I wanted to teach my boy how to use the potty, I had to show him. You can't just tell them how to do it without showing them. That's like telling them to go cook you a 5 course meal. Our little ones simply don't know how. You need to create a fascination with all things potty before they will EVER think of sitting on it. Tell them you need to go! Do an exaggerated funny run on your way there. Let them hand you the toilet paper. Let them flush for you afterward. Ask for a high-five because you went "wee-wee or doo-doo" on the potty. And if you haven't already figured it out, choose your potty vocabulary.

3) Potty shop. I have compiled a list of things that have helped me and my awesome dude.
*Potty seat. Either one to fit on the toilet or their own separate potty seat. I got one of each, but my son liked the actually padded seat that went on the toilet.
*Step stool. If you have chosen to get the seat that fits on the toilet, they need a way of actually getting up there. A step stool also does wonders with being able to reach the sink.
*Potty book. Funny story, my son would grab the almanac we have on the back of the toilet and sit and flip through it. It became a helpful tool for me. It was nice to have that little something to give him. Looking at the almanac is something he gets to do ONLY while sitting on the potty.
*Wiping material. My son just uses toilet paper. But I'm sure having their own special flush-able, cool looking wipes would be rad too.
*Hand soap. Get a way AWESOME, totally COOL looking type of hand soap. It makes washing hands afterward tons of fun. Boring bar soap is lame. ;)
*Undies, training pants, whatever you think will catch your little one's attention and make them feel like a big kid, but still work for you.
*A to-go potty. There are ones that fold up nicely that you can take with you.

4) Praise, praise, and more praise. Even if they wind up sitting on the potty without doing anything, they still sat there! Any step forward is worthy of praise. And it's a fact of life, accidents will happen. You'll have wet pants to change. Pee to clean up off the floor. You might even get sprayed with pee (hey, point it down! lol) REMEMBER: One unkind word or gesture done out of frustration can set the whole potty business back two steps. They're trying. They want to do good. Honest. It's a scary, new thing that they are tackling. I see this now. So keep up the praise. The first time my son went wee-wee, I called all the grandparents to tell them. Not only did they get a kick out of it, but my son was lavished with tons of "good jobs!" and "that a boys!" It did wonders for him and made him want to try, try, and try again!

5) Reward. Lets face it, I'd poop on the potty for a candy bar. If someone wanted to give me one, I'd gladly take it! I swore I would never use bribery. But hey, it's not bribery. It's a reward! I like that word better. :) I love to use stickers. I made up this absolutely cute sticker chart and each time my little guy uses the potty, he gets a sticker to put on. I also write little things on the cart like "Way to go!" "YAY! You went doo-doo!" It's fun to do, fun to look at, and will be fun to hold on to to embarrass them with in the future. If you don't want to do stickers, just do what you find works. Maybe a penny each time they go? Maybe some sort of fun treat. Maybe a high-five is enough. Speaking of high-fives...

6) Remember to make it fun. This pretty much goes hand in hand with all the other points. My son loves Spongebob. His potty seat has spongebob on it. He likes to dance so I made up a funny potty dance I do every time he goes. I might look retarded, but who cares? No one's watching me other than my son.....I think. We're super big into high-fives, knucks, E-T's, handshakes, etc. I automatically get a high-five each time he uses the potty, even if I forget to ask for one! :) I use funny voices to talk to him while he's sitting on the potty too.

7) Figure out what works BEST for you and your little potty trainee. We skipped the training pants and went straight to underwear. In truth, most of the time he goes bottomless. This works for us. We have wood floors and the occasional accident is easy to clean up. When guests come over or we go outside I put the underwear on. If there is an accident, you know what? Oh well. We just change clothing. He does, however, get a diaper at night and when we leave the house. The diaper at night is a precautionary measure we use to keep me sane. I'd get tired of washing sheets every day because it's inevitable that the mattress/sheet protector isn't large enough to actually "protect" anything from getting wet. Ugh. The diaper when we leave the house, I'm proud to say, will be in the works to get rid of here shortly! We purchased the to-go folding potty seat and will be starting that adventure. Hooray! Now I really do get to subject everyone to my potty dances and silly voices.

Other points to ponder:

*Sitting or standing for boys? I don't pretend to know the answer. My boy, obviously, is training sitting. I don't know when we will make the transition to standing. Perhaps he will learn to wee-wee standing this summer outside? We'll see.

*Who's easier and faster to train? Boys or girls? I also don't know the answer to this. My daughter is far away from potty training. Get back to me in a year perhaps. It would be interesting to hear input on this because I've heard girls are easier.

*Does success with # 1 mean success with #2 as well? Hmmm, I've read that just because your kiddo goes pee on the potty, does not mean poop will immediately follow. In my case, however, my little guy ran out of his room one morning holding his bum exclaiming, "Mama! I do doo-doo!" And so he trotted to the toilet and sure enough, he went. He has been going doo-doo on the potty ever since.

If you are a potty training Mama (or Papa, or whomever), I hope this post will help you out or give you encouragement if things aren't going as planned! You can only do your best to be patient, find what works for you, and deal out the love and praise. When you're in it, you're in it for the long haul. Before becoming a parent, whenever I use to hear people talk about potty training I would always wonder what the big deal was. Now I know. It is by far a daunting task and it's easy for you, as well as your little one, to become discouraged. Keep it up! The days of diapers will eventually come to an end. Who knows, you might one day miss having a diaper to change. 

With love,
Fellow potty training participant
Mama Hauck