Potty Training Day 2: Owen

Day 2 at home.  He is still naked from the waist down and today I haven't been as watchful.  The plumber was here and so was daddy....meaning lots of distractions! Owen has done great with peeing!   However, we did have poop on the floor again. He does notice as it is coming out and says "oh no!" He then ran to the potty and tried, but it was too late.  It seems he didnt quite finish as 2 other times he has RUN to the potty saying "Owen poo poo!" The first time nothing and the second time I think there was already a pebble/rock turd in between his cheeks!  Haha, he soooo wanted the prize, but not yet! 

Then it was nap time, I put a diaper on him and it was a little wet when he woke up.  Daddy was working on the bathroom so we decided underwear and pants were going to have to be worn in the construction zone and basement.  Weeeeeeelllll, I am not surprised we had an accident.  He pooped in his pants, but did seem embarassed about it. Daddy got him cleaned up and new underwear and back to work.  He did do pretty good peeing when we asked him too, though still had damp underwear when it was bath time.  It wasn't a lot so I feel like he realized what was happening and stopped it.  

I have a feeling the poop is going to be our struggle.  But we are talking about how you have to sit on the potty for a long time, sometimes singing a song before the poop will come out!  

If anyone has poop tips fill me in!!

Potty Training Day 1: Owen

Wow, my son amazes me.  Not that today was perfect by any means, but I am a proud mama!

A little background: So, since 18 months we have had the froggy potty in the bathroom.  We have used marshmallows as treats or rewards.  This worked great when they were "new" thankfully we got a different type of marshmallow after a while and so he got re interested! Recently, when we ask if he needs to pee pee or wants a marshmallow he says no.  Chris really has been pushing wanting to try to see if he is ready. Play school starts in 5 days and at play school he will get the opportunity to try and potty, but they can be in diapers or underware.

Anyway, I am really proud of him today.  We got the second frog potty out and out it in front of the TV. He wore his t-shirt and socks. He watched movies, had salty snacks, juice, chocolate milk and peed in the potty 5 times before naptime!  There was a tiny dribble on the floor, but it seems he stopped himself!! The only oops we had was poop, but then we haven't been successful with poop yet anyway.  I ran into my room to switch pants so we could run to the bank and I walk back to poop falling onto the floor!! Then he proceeds to step on it!  The first thing he says is "I am sorry, mommy!" He knew it wasn't right. Thankfully, he was wearing socks and it was easy to pop the sock off and into the wash! Owen helped me wipe the floor (after I cleaned it!) and flushed the poop down the toilet! We talked a lot about pooping in the potty next time and I was hopeful.  

We ran to the bank and were gone for 40 minutes no accident.  He wore shorts no underware!! Then it was naptime. I knew what would happen and was right. He took a great nap and I could see on the monitor the pee puddle!  LOL.  I stripped the bed and washed everything.  What I wasn't expecting was the additional "rocks" in the underware!  They fell out onto the floor, ops! We cleaned them up, wiped Owen down and put a new shirt and socks on!

The rest of the night was good!  A bath, eating dinner at his table and two more pees in the potty.  Clean sheets on the bed, clean PJs and a night time diaper and he is down till day 2!

Random day at home/ weekend

So know I am only 32 weeks.  I know I have plenty of time to get stuff done, but every week that nesting urge hits and I think: "I haven't gotten anything ready for Jesse this week. ". Here it is Friday and I had a mini freak out tear my house apart day! 

The nursery has stalled because all the "fun" projects are done.  Organizing, cleaning and hanging stuff on the walls is mainly what is left.  But, today was one of those days I got a lot done!

-organized and restocked my toiletry bag: extra contacts, glasses, shampoo etc. are all ready to go!

-washed nursing bras and pads, still can't find a stack of nursing tops that I know are hiding from me!!! 

-soaked in dawn and HOT water, scrubbed then boiled all the bottles and pump parts; then organized and put a mini bag together for the hospital

      -hand pump, bottle, nipple, lids, nursing pads and sensitive covers all put in a nice bag to go in the diaper bag

-half packed the diaper bag for the hospital: comfy onesies, cute hats, socks, washed the coming home outfit (needs to air dry and be pressed still) 

-washed newborn diapers, cloth wipes, and inserts (still need to fold and put away)

-put large bottles, extra cloth diaper supples and some random stuff under the crib

-pulled together the various samples of formula and other feeding supples in a bag in his closet for easy access

-decided where in the kitchen all the bottles will go, but still need to move stuff around

-spray painted a picture frame white bc I didn't like the blue I had painted it :/

-took the paint supples from painting Jesse's room to the basement, they had been living on the floor of the laundry room

-made some to do lists!

Sadly, my house is a wreck! Owen has his toys everywhere and my dining room table is covered in paperwork that I probably should have taken care of instead of all these little projects.  But I do feel more close to being ready!  I want the last few weeks to be take it easy and enjoy time with Owen.  

My goal for August was to finish the nursery so September can be freezer meal month.  I have to admit I am not looking forward to it!  

We are still in bathroom remodel mode.  The bathroom is gutted and most of the electrical is done and right now we are waiting for the plumber to come to install the waterproof pan, move the toilet and add a sink rough in plumbing.  Tile has been ordered and selections have been made.  Just need that Plummer to come out....going onto week 3 now... 

It is now Sunday! Haha it's so hard to post these when I write them.  Saturday the plumber came out!!! He was basically looking at everything so he can come back on Tuesday and start the rough in plumbing.  It was good we had him come because we now know we need the HVAC guy to come out and see if we can move part of vent system so we can put the toilet where we want it.  If it all works out we might have someone at our house every day next week.  (Wishful thinking I know). I am hoping for tile in the shower the end of the following week.  

We did a 32.5 week bump pic!  Here I am 3 weeks in a row in the same outfit, it is just my go to comfy outfit now.  

  

So, now it's Sunday and I am sick :(. I have a soar throat and some stuffed up head and nose.  I wish you could hear the whine I am whining!! 7 months pregnant and sick...not so much fun.  

Jesse: 32 weeks

Well, a night ago we had another rough night of contractions.  They started at about 10:30 and lasted till 1am.  Chris was great and got me water and our medicine, thankfully taking 2 pills seems to slow the contractions down and hopefully the water helped.  Though I don't know how it is good to drink that much water because I then have to pee every 20 minutes and can't lay down.  I swear when I have to pee the contractions are worse.

32 weeks per babycenter:

By now, your baby weighs 3 3/4 pounds (about the size of a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

How far along: 32 weeks 

Total weight gain/loss: Still hanging around 27 pounds, with Owen I was 8 pounds heaver!  This GD diet works! 

Maternity clothes: def. I had to buy one more large short sleeved top to cover this big belly, my favorite thing to wear is a long maxi dress! Wish I had more of them that fit! 

Stretch marks: I think some old marks have gotten bigger and turned purple again :/ oh well it's worth it for this little boy!

Sleep:  I think it's crazy I can take a 3 hour nap and not move once, but then at night I turn over every hour or pee every hour. So sleep isnt that great and I worry every time I walk to the bathroom that he is ok.  I seem to worry more at night. 

Best moments this week:  I loved having some friends gush over my belly and tell me I look great too!  I think this diet is hopefully going to keep me from gaining that extra 15-20 pounds I did with Owen!!

Belly button in or out?: I was looking at Owens 32 week post and apparently my belly button hadn't popped, but this time we are full on outie!  It shows through shirts....ugh! 

Craving: not really craving much at this point, partly bc I am so focused on my diet! 

What I am looking forward to: possibly 7 weeks till he is HERE!! 

Sorry no pic this week!  Life has been busy!  Jesse you are still loved I promise!

Gestation Diabetes update

For a week I researched other blogs, websites and googled different recipes and ideas for snacks.  I am still learning and having to get really creative.  FINALLY, it was the day of the class.  I was going to get my glucose monitor and get rolling.  I think what I have been doing the past week has been helpful.  Each day I would remove a carb from my diet that used to be a staple.  For example, my breakfast: cereal, milk, coffee with creamer.  I dropped the cereal and milk to every other day and then all together, then a couple days ago the creamer (full of sugar).  I had already given up my last night cookie/carb snack.

The class was very informative.  I am very impressed with the paperwork they give out.  There are three sheets I find myself looking at frequently.

1. Sample Menu Ideas: it is heavy on skim milk as the protein as an example (I had thought I would have to give this up)
2. Nutrient Content and Serving Size of the Six Food Groups: IE: carb quantity examples-this one also give great ideas for snacks and meal options
3. Food Label Sample:  
1. Total Carbs: needs to be about 15 per serving for me to be willing to eat it
2. FIber: higher the better
3. Sugar: SINGLE DIGITS lower the better
4. serving size

So, at the class we received our monitor and initicially I had some issues with the test strips having error readings and then got my first reading!  119!  I had just eaten during the class earlier (apple and cheese), so this was a good reading!  I was kinda excited to get going the next morning.

Well that was yesterday.  I woke up and did my first fasting reading which was 89!  Supposed to be 90 and below so just squeaked by!  Yippee.  I ate my breakfast cassorole (eggs, bacon, sausage, spinach and zuchinni).  Drank my coffee with the littlest amount of creamer ever! Then 2 hours later went to prick my finger again.  Tiniest amount of blood.  Not enough for a reading and THEN the lance broke (the thing that pokes you).  Talk about annoying.  

Long story short.  Spent the day on the phone with local wal.mart pharmacy and insurance company and figured out it is WAY cheaper to just buy the stuff over the counter.  My test strips were going to be $120 a month, I was able to buy almost 2 months supply of everything and a new monitor and lance for about $100.  Have I mentioned that my insurance sucks!

So, here I am today.  Finally got my stuff and just took another reading: 83!  They wanted 120 and less!  Yippee, I am doing this!  I can do this for Jesse and my health!

Here is the snack I enjoyed after my blood draw!

1/4 cup pumkin seeds, 1/4 cup blueberries, celery and natural no sugar added peanut butter!  Treating myself to a coke at the end, chased with good old water!

And b/c Walmart always distracts me and gets me to buy random stuff:  Today is brought to you by matching pumpkin outfits!

Jesse: 31 weeks

Well, after a couple of low days we needed a good one!  Had a GREAT OB appointment this morning and we are 31 weeks.  If we do a c/s at 39 weeks then. BOOM!  8 week count down is ON!!

We got up early and packed Owen in the car with his breakfast and headed to the OB.  We had a great u/s.  Jesse had his hands in his face so we didn't get a great face picture, but Owen loved seeing his face, toes and listening to his heartbeat (made the lady do it again!).  Thankfully, he was SO GOOD and very sweet to everyone.  Next we headed to the 2nd waiting room where he played the IPAD quietly till we met with the DR.  Dr. L gave me a glowing report.  Highlights:  I haven't gained any weight in 2 weeks, since I was on track to gain too much this is good news.  Jesse weighs about 4 pounds putting him a week and a half ahead and 95%.  This is good and bad.  Good that even tho I didn't gain weight, he is growing just fine. Semi bad b/c of the gestation diabetes this usually leads to big babies and means repeat c/s.  Though at this point I am not sure I could make it to 42 weeks and an induction because I am already so uncomfortable.

After we got home and had some lunch Owen and Mommy took great naps!  Then we had a good dinner together and Daddy left for his meeting.  Mommy whipped up this little changing table cover!  I used the scraps and some ops quilting blocks we couldn't use in his quilt.  I thought the blue will be good for the "bottom" area of the changing table!  Haha!

haha! I am wearing the same outfit as my last belly pic at 29 weeks.

Per baby center dot com: "This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3 1/3 pounds (about the size of a coconut) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy."

Weeeelllll, we are a bit off!  Haha!  4 lbs vs 3.3!  oh well.  Dr wasn't worried I am not too worried!  

organizing 2 boys sets of clothes

I feel like I have learned a lot after the first go round.  This time I am doing Jesse's closet a bit differently.

OWEN:
For Owen's I washed and hung EVERY.SINGLE.HAND-ME-DOWN that didn't have a stain.  I had bought so many hangers that they wouldn't even fit in his closet!  (at least this time I didn't have to buy many!)  I tried to hang all his clothes by size: newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months etc.  If the size just said 3 months it went into the 0-3 month pile, better to see it when it was too big than after it was too small.  I even hung a lot of his pants until I realized I didn't have the space for both, now if it is a set I hang the pants over the bottom of the hanger and the shirt on top.  The miscellaneous pants I group by size and put a rubber band around them with a slip of paper saying the size (pic below of Jesse's) Lastly, I have a chest of drawers that we keep the clothes he currently fits in and wears daily.  This means I can fold laundry anywhere in the house, pile it in a basket and go right to the drawers put it away in less than a minute!  I have found that laundry happens during naptime and I never would have any hangers or I couldn't put them away bc he was sleeping.

If you aren't bored yet here is how Owen's 5 drawers are organized:

1. underwear (for when we get there), bathing suits/swim diapers, pjs and his beloved MeMe's
2. short sleeved t-shirts (b/c it is summer)  I fold them into little square piles, usually putting his "play" clothes in one pile, collared shirts in another and his nice tees in several more stacks.
3. shorts (b/c it is summer) and a few pairs of jeans and long pants
4. long sleeved tops and light weight jackets 
5. bed linens: sheets, pillowcases and blankets

In the top of his closet I keep big bins full of too big items sorted by: swim, hats, shoes/socks, and keepsake items.  I love having the keepsake bin in his room where if something gets too small or a toy that is special that he out grows I can just pop it in there!

Lastly, I have some fun teal baskets near his changing table and now big boy bed that hold: shoes, socks, belts and hats.  Owen likes to be able to access these things and is really good at helping me put them away!

JESSE:
The biggest thing this time is I sorted clothes before I washed them.  If it had a stain I tried to get it out or put it in the donate pile.  We are blessed that stained clothes don't have to be worn.  I didn't really concern myself too much with seasons and you never know how what size they will be when anyway.  But I did get rid of a lot of clothes that I didn't really like or love and kept a nice round selection of clothes.  I have realized the way I do laundry I only need about 7-10 top & pants or outfits in each size.  This time I did the same thing with Jesse's clothes, newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, etc.  I, also, went an extra step and sorted the clothes by short sleeved, then long sleeved,outfits, jackets and finally pjs.  I use the hanging closet space just for clothes that are too big; therefore newborn and 0-3 month stuff is already in the drawers.  Here are Jesse's drawers starting at the top:

1. hats, socks, swaddle sacks, bobby covers, nursing covers
2. newborn clothes stacked by: pants, short sleeved onsies, long sleeved onsies, outfits, pj's and sleep sacks
3. 0-3 months sorted the same
4. blankets
5. crib sheets, crib protector sheets, breathable bumper for later

On the shelves beneath the changing table we have bins holding his cloth diapers and wipes, some disposable diapers and wipe, burp cloths and more blankets.  Of course, all the little things are there too on the side in a hanging rack: bulbs, q-tips, diaper rash cream, alcohol swabs, box of tissues, lotion etc.  (this stuff isnt actually in place yet....as I was typing it I realized I should add this to my list of things to do/organize!)

Here is where I am really changing up my system.  I will still use the closet for future sizes, but once the size hits 12 months I have found it is easier to sort by season.  Jesse's bottom row of clothes are sorted by summer and winter.  12-24 months are all lumped together.  Different brands run different sizes so even if the tag said 2T and Owen wore it with the rest of the 18 month clothes I kept them together. When kids hit these sizes they stay there for a while longer.  Sometimes all that grows is arm and leg lengths. I kept the smaller sizes towards the left and larger on the right, but it also helps that I have 2 boys and now Owen's clothes are handed down straight from his closet to Jesse's.  NO MORE SIZE SORTING!!

I can see how this might not work for girls as dresses and such could get wrinkled in the drawers, but for a mostly cotton t-shirt boy wardrobe it is awesome!

Top of Jesse's Closet; bins I mentioned

2 rows of hanging clothes, the bottom is the summer/winter section

the shorts/pants sorted by size

Anything, I can do now to make life easier later is my goal!