The Month of June

This month has flown by. I have been really busy, but it seems if I were to stop and tell what I were busy doing, my mind draws a blank! Well, I will recap as much as I can remember!

Josiah's potty training is still going, slowly but sweetly. I did cringe this morning when he came up to me and said: "Um, mommy? Yucky dirty on the chair, yucky dirty on the floor and yucky dirty on my hands!" To which I quickly turned from what I was doing to check the adult version of the damage...it wasn't too bad, but he wasn't kidding either! Josiah will tell me when he is wet and when he has messed his pants, but he won't tell me when he needs to go. He will tell me he needs to mess about 10 minute before he does, to which I proactively put him on the potty and cheer him on. Then nothing happens until we put the pants back on. How do we figure this part out??? Well, on to greener pastures...

Bethany is sitting up for 20 and 30 minutes at a time. She LOVES for Josiah to play with her and Josiah loves to play with her, although his playing with her has to be severely monitored! For some reason he likes to plant his palm in her face and shove her over when she is sitting up, and he thinks it is funny. Bethany is also making a lot of sounds and making a lot of noise. Her favorite right now is sticking her tongue out and spitting. Josiah loves it when Bethany makes her spitting noise but doesn't quite understand why it is not alright for him to spit. We went to a church meeting this past weekend and twice I had to discipline Josiah for spitting in people's faces when they talked to him. Josiah spitting has a lot more force than a little old baby spit! I was literally wiping spit out of one lady's hair! So, we were in the car on the way home from this meeting and Josiah turned around to me and said: "Mommy! What happens if you spit? What? What happens?" I told him: "You tell me, what happens if you spit?" Then Josiah said: "I take you out and skank your hand!"He doesn't quite understand why he can't spit but Bethany can, so he has told me several times that Bethany needs a spankin'! Even though Bethany is sitting up, she could care less about rolling over and has maybe done so about 5 times. Isn't that weird? Josiah was rolling from one side of the room to the other by 7 months!

Now for some sadness to share. Danny and I have been praying about our financial situation for a while now and feel led for me to go back to work part time. I have been praying about what to do and where to go when I noticed an ad for the previous company I worked for, and they were looking for part time work! I would love to work for my previous company again and it was PT! Even better! So, this week I have been finishing up paperwork for going back to work at Delta Dental. I have been preparing myself for leaving the kids for 1/2 a day and I though I had gotten to the point where I felt like I could do it and not feel too bad or too guilty. Then yesterday a bombshell went off in my lap! I was told that the training begins this next Monday and that the training is for 6 weeks [it has been over 2 years since I have been at Delta, so I have to go through the training again, understandably!] and not only is it for 6 weeks, it is from Monday thru Friday from 8a-5p. I guess I just didn't think it would be this much. I have been bursting out in tears yesterday and today over the thought of leaving my kids on a daily basis for most of the day. Six weeks! Bethany will be rolling over and crawling and I will be missing it!!! I am so sad and downcast. I am blessed however to have a wonderful friend who is helping to keep the kids one day a week and my mother in law is keeping the kids two days a week. Daddy is off and keeping the kids one day a week and our cousin will fill in for one day a week or as needed. The Lord has helped us to have all of the pieces fall into place and this is what we have needed. Please pray for me while I have to be away from my kids. I am feeling all alone and very sad right now and I don't like these feelings!

This has been our June goings on and I will try to be more diligent to write more in the future!!!

Don't Laugh At Me! Okay, Not Too Hard Anyway...

We have a dilemma here in the Hodges' House...my son's bottom is too big for regular diapers anymore. Yes, he's only a little over two, but he is almost 45 lbs and they just don't make diapers that big! We have gone to pull-ups that don't have enough coverage and we have even bought size 7 diapers that are WAY more expensive. I came to the conclusion that we couldn't do this anymore. We are not made of money, you know! So, I read a book and talked with a friend who has tried the potty training in a day method. My friend said it worked for her, and out of desperation and literal lack of money, we decided to try this method.

Basically, you get a baby doll that has a refillable bottle to drink from, and the ability to pee. You give your child the bottle and have your child give the baby drink. Then tell your child that the baby has to go potty on the potty chair. Instruct your child to then put the baby on the potty chair and watch the baby go potty. After the baby potties on the chair, instruct your child to give the baby a treat. Instruct your child to congratulate the baby and continue letting your child give the baby water and telling the baby to go potty on the potty chair. After this scenario a few times over, tell your child it is time for them to potty like a big boy/girl on the potty chair. Instruct the child to pull their pants down, let them situate themselves, wait for them to pee on the potty, congratulate them heartily, then give them a treat. This should go on for the better part of a day. Try to set aside time where it is just you and the child you are training. Better yet, let the child go naked without pants and when you see them running around every 5-10 minutes, tell them it is time to potty on the potty chair.

So, you may laugh now, but don't laugh too hard, because if you read my blog about a month or so ago, pottying was a no-go. Since the baby doll, Josiah has not skipped a beat. He comes to me at various times of the day and tells me his baby went to pee on the potty and needs a treat, but I make him sit down and pee first. Now, he is not FULLY trained, but we are well on our way to no more diapers for the big kid! He still wets in his pants, but now he comes and tells me he didn't pee on the potty, but he peed in his pants and it is "dirty, yucky". Pooping on the potty has not ocurred yet...I won't even begin to mention that, but if you are ready to start and you think your child is, get the baby doll...it has worked wonders for us!

Happy training!

How can she be 6 months old?

It seems like just yesterday I was whining about how miserable I was in the last stages of my pregnancy. I was miserable, but oh-so excited to meet my baby girl! Bethany has been a delightful baby since day one. Almost from the start, she has slept through the night and she loves the 3 hour routine...eat, stay awake for about an hour and a half, then sleep an hour an a half. This is how she works her days. She can sleep just about anywhere...I have a bed set up over in the corner and she sleeps there while her rowdy brother plays and stomps around, and she sleeps through the antics of the kids I babysit. She hates to go to sleep in your arms and will fight you for all it's worth, but she is so easy to go to sleep. Just give her a "buddy" [pacifier] and a blanket [she rubs her blanket on her face to help her go to sleep!] and she is out in seconds...literally! Bethany is so laid back and easy going. She loves to watch everything that is going on around her. She is so excited to have discovered her big brother. She loves watching Josiah do anything. Bethany hates it when he leaves the room, though. I tease and say that she has brother separation anxiety! One of the best parts of Bethany's day is laying down in Josiah's bed with him. She loves it! She kicks her feet, grabs for Josiah, coos and talks and has the best of times! Bethany does not roll over a lot, maybe only three or four times since birth, but she is already sitting up. She can sit up on her own for about 15 minutes before she shows significant signs of being tired of it! For about 2 months now, Bethany has been giving kisses. What, you don't believe it? I thought at first it was nothing, but I kid you not! If you get close enough, she will grab your face with both hands and plant a juicy one on your cheek, and she will do this over and over again as much as you will let her. It is the sweetest thing ever. Sometimes she takes you by surprise and literally lunges at your face to kiss on you. If I kiss on her cheeks, this always inevitably starts an all out kiss-fest!

I thank God every day for my children and I love them so very much! Happy 6 month birthday Bet-bet [as Josiah calls her!]!