Your laugh for the day

This morning as I was awakened by Josiah's loud bedroom banter, I went to get him out of bed to begin our day. He was soaking wet! Usually we don't do diaper changes until after breakfast, but this one meant a change of clothes immediately. So, I got him undressed and undiapered and realized all of the diapers were downstairs. So, I went and gathered Bethany and directed little naked bird downstairs. I laid Bethany down in her portable crib and decided to throw an egg and some cheese in the microwave for Josiah before sticking his diaper on...after all, it would just take a second, right? So, I am mixing an egg up and from the other room I hear: "Oh, pee-pee! Wow! Pee-pee!", proclaimed proudly. I hustled into the dining room in time to see Josiah leaning over the baby bed while peeing all over Bethany. When I say ALL OVER, I mean ALL OVER! She had it on her head and face, clothes and feet. Now, mind you, Josiah didn't do this on purpose. He was trying to put Bethany's pacifier in her mouth when he just let fly. So, instead of breakfast first thing this morning, we started off with a bath for Bethany. She was a trooper and smiled and cooed at her big brother like he was her best friend in the whole world! This, therefore, is your laugh for the day!

Potty training is for the birds!

Okay, so I have made a decision...Josiah may be mentally ready for potty training, but he is not physically. I made this decision after 7 attempts of sitting on the potty only rendered Josiah wetting his Elmo underwear within two minutes after each attempt. Congrats to me though! I managed to keep a smile on my face every time he/we cleaned up the floor. After talking to several people and doing a little research, I have decided to put potty training on the back burner when Josiah is able to understand a little more about what actually is going on with that part of his body.

One thing that has been working though is cutting back on using the "buddy". I have been telling him that he is a big boy and doesn't need his buddy. He was getting sleepy today and came up to me, laid his head on my leg and said he needed a baby buddy. Josiah now only sleeps with his buddy at nap and night time. We went a full Sunday service without the buddy, only one trip to the bathroom for some discipline, several pinches and whispers in the ear and we came out on the other side still not giving in and giving him his buddy. The buddy during church has always been my calming mechanism because I worry about him being loud during church, but he is just fine without it! At the end of the closing prayer, when the amen was said, Josiah did tickle everyone when he jumped down out of Daddy's arms and loudly proclaimed: "Run, run, run!!!"

Thanks everyone for your insight and listening. Our next big transition will be no more crib...when did my little boy get so BIG???

It's time...

Oh my goodness, how on earth do you potty train a boy??? I wish he weren't ready, but fact is, he is. I have tried to deny it and tell myself that he isn't, but the fact remains that he will be potty training himself soon if I don't get on the ball. How do I know he is ready, you ask? Well, the other day as I was changing Bethany's diaper, in the kitchen I heard: "Go poo-poo on the potty! Good job! Hold it down!" These are all of the things that I tell him when I occasionally sit him on his little porta-potty. When I went into the kitchen, not only was he sitting on his little potty, but he had pulled his little elastic pants down and pulled his diaper off and was pretending to grunt and strain. It was HILARIOUS until I realized...it's time. So, in the spirit of potty training, we bought Elmo underwear to go with the Thomas the train underwear he already has. He loved the Elmo undies so much, I put them on him tonight and let him prance around in them. He had his first accident tonight at his play table. He stopped and had a shocked look on his face, clasped his cheeks with the palms of his hands and proclaimed loudly: "Oh no!!!". I gave him a little towel and told him to clean it up and then I told him to take off his undies. He did all of this, then took it upon himself to sit on the potty one more time. I really am not sure how all of this is going to go. From all of the tips that I have received from friends and family, here is what we are going to do: Tomorrow starts the run around in nothing but your undies and socks day. I bought a timer tonight that has a lovely ding. I am going to make Josiah sit on the potty for 2 minutes every 20-30 minutes ALL DAY LONG. I made a sticker chart for Josiah and he will get one sticker for sitting on the potty, 2 stickers for pee-peeing and 3 stickers for poo-pooing. I decided not to go with the candy reward system yet because Josiah has never had candy besides a sucker at the DR's office and sugar tends to be a love for our family, so I do not want to start on this road unless I have to. I have promised myself not to get mad or upset if I have messes to clean up, this is just part of the fun. Also, as much as possible, Josiah will be responsible for cleaning up his accidents. I will let you know how this goes...

Guess what else it is time for? I think it is time for Josiah to make the transition from the crib to a bed. First of all, my little boy is HUGE and I can't believe he still fits in the crib, but he does. We have a convertible bed given to us by a cousin, so we are going to move Josiah's crib to the guest room for Ms. Bethany and set up Josiah's bed. I really am interested to see how this goes...it ought to be fun!

It is also time for one more thing: goodbye buddy! Josiah calls his trusty pacifier sidekick his buddy. I have all but eliminated it from everyday life, but I think it is totally time for it to go as I can see a sort of overbite forming with Josiah's teeth. Right now, he only uses it for bedtime and church. Bedtime I am not necessarily worried about, but church scares me. Unless he has his buddy, he just will not be quiet! I guess I am going to have to increase the discipline measures as well!

Don't worry, I am not going to do all of these things at one time...that would be a recipe for disaster! I will slowly but surely get around to making these changes before Josiah is five...or maybe a little sooner!

Weigh In Tuesday

After being T-totally upset with myself and allowing stress to motivate my food choices, last week I was determined to "eat to live, not live to eat". Well, my determination paid off. I had three goals last week:

• Track everything I ate, every day for the week
• Get more fruits and vegetables in
• Exercise at least 5 days out of the week

So, how did I do, you ask? GREAT! The only goal I did not attain was # 3 and it wasn't for lack of trying! I went to the gym 3 days out of the week, but due to my aforementioned knee re-injury, I went two days and could not really do anything! That was really disappointing! So, yesterday I really got back into kicking it at the gym, but my knee is still bothering me. Instead of walking at a high intensity level, I walked longer at a lower intensity level. Still hurt, but not as bad as I could! When we went to weigh in at Weight Watchers this week, I was eagerly anticipating my weigh-in because I knew I did a good job of watching myself this week. I lost 6.2 pounds! I know this is abnormal for 1 week and I don't expect as much the following weeks, but this is great motivation for me, and I believe great motivation for my DH too. My DH is motivation to me and I am glad that I might be able to be some for him! Until next Tuesday, happy exercising!!!

Time to catch up!

I am so sick of DR appts! Sick of them, I tell you! In the last month with trips to the DR and hospital, we have spent well over $500 out of pocket, and let me tell you, that money could have been well used somewhere else! I am thankful, however, that Bethany and Josiah are well, Danny is well, and well, I am on the road to total recovery! I had a DR's appt this past week that will probably result in making an additional appt with another DR. I was in the waiting room with about 10 other people when the receptionist called me back up to their counter to get my insurance card. On the way, my left knee had a hard meeting with a foreign object and down I went, crying like a baby. Now, I don't normally cry like a baby over things like this, but now is the time to share with you what I didn't in any previous posts. About a week and a half ago, I had a pretty nasty fall here in my kitchen and ended up landing in my dining room. I tripped over one of my sons push toys [which has been since relegated to the backyard, never to return to the inside!] and down I went. I fell so hard that my husband, who was asleep at the time, heard me before I screamed his name and came running downstairs to help me. Boy, howdy, I was in some major pain. I fell on the knee and elbow that I had fallen on a few weeks ago, but this time I also injured my wrist and whacked my knee so bad that it is still numb! Well, when I hit my leg in the DR's ofc, I immediately started crying because my knee already hurt sooo bad, and now my whole leg, from ankle to hip was throbbing in pain. A guy in the office was laughing hysterically about the whole ordeal, which irritated me, so when I stood up, I looked at him with tears streaming down my face and said to him, "I am so glad I could provide quality entertainment for you this morning", to which he continued to chuckle a bit. What was this foreign object you ask? I feel a bit stupid telling you, but it was a glass top table and I simply NEVER saw it! Before you think this is simply ridiculous, let me tell you, nothing was on the table and the carpet beneath the table was yellow as was the frame holding the glass table top, so really, it was hard to see. Yes, I did complain about it to the receptionist! :-) So, I am still waiting for the numbness and throbbing to go away. It is very hot to the touch and swollen, and any amount of pressure or anything just makes me want to scream! I am praying that it will heal swiftly and that no serious damage has been done. Until then, I am trying to stay off of it!

On to more exciting things! I asked you all to pray for my mother a few weeks ago because a mass was found in her small intestines. She has had a procedure done and will hear the results of that procedure on Wednesday. At this time, there is every indication that she will have to undergo surgery to have the mass removed, but we just don't know yet what all is happening. I will mention this again next week, Lord willing. Until then, please continue to pray for my mom and dad and my family!

I haven't written about my Weight Watchers Tuesdays in a while, not because I have been doing badly, but because I just simply haven't gotten in here to do it. I did gain a little bit while Bethany was sick and was in the hospital for the night, but I am back on track and I have even joined the gym! YES! I am so excited, except my knee has kept me away for a few days. I do hope to go back tomorrow and go VERY slowly on the treadmill and then maybe do some upper body training. Everyone ought to check and see if there is a Planet Fitness in your area because they have a great gym and their small package is only $29 yearly fee then $10 a month, guaranteed to never increase. There is no contract with this plan and you can cancel at any time!

Well, I am going to close for now and hop off to bed...on my one good leg!

Sweet...or embarrassing???

Josiah bought his first drink for a little girl today... after he went up to her table at Chik-fil-A and swiped her applejuice! So, we have to work on this "we don't own the world" stuff!

I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

No, seriously, I can't hear you! I was so sick last week with my kids being sick and Bethany being in the hospital, it just wasn't Momma's turn to be checked out by the DR. I realized my turn had come when my hearing had just about gone. I can't hear out of my right ear, and the left ear has an echo that is so annoying! That good old sinus infection I had developed into my ears. Nice, huh? My DR fussed and fussed at me for not coming in sooner, and I finally told him, the kids come first! I have always taken my hearing for granted, I realize. It is so frustrating not to be able to hear everything I once heard. On the other hand, I realize also that it is nice not to hear the intense fussing that goes on around here. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at Josiah fussing and whining and have been oh so happy to tell him: "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!". This just about makes him stop immediately because what purpose is there in fussing and whining if you can't annoy someone with it? Anyway, this is what's happening at the Hodges'. We are slowly but surely getting a little better all of the time!

"I like it!"

Even though Josiah is battling this ickiness with the best of us, he has been cute as a bug! I was sitting here doing some bills on the computer this morning and thought about how he would like to see some Elmo on the computer. Elmo is one of his favorite characters right now. I typed Elmo into the google search engine and came up with lots of stuff to see. Josiah promptly asked, "In your lap? In your lap?" So I put him up in my lap and we enjoyed some Elmo together. I love seeing him get so excited about things. After every little video clip he saw, he would loudly proclaim: "I like it!", and then he would proclaim a lot of un-understandable words very excitedly. He enjoyed our little video watching so much this morning that he got down and sat by Bethany, who is in her swing, and held her little hand and excitedly told her all about Elmo. The only words I really understood in his conversation with Bethany was "Elmo" and "I like it"! Bethany smiled and cooed at him through the whole conversation!