Potty Training

       Attempt #1- Yeah... utter failure. Jessica has been noticing the need for a diaper change ("I poopy") for about 6 months now, and then just a bit over a week ago she started asking to go to the bathroom. So, I figured that meant she was ready to start potty training, and as soon as I got healthy (sooo NOT doing that while sick) we'd start. Well, last weekend I finally hit "healthy" status, so we started on Monday. It went about as I expected on Monday. I'd hoped we might get something in the toilet, but wasn't planning on it. What I wasn't planning on is what started Monday night and continued through Tuesday and into Wednesday. That was Jessica making it into a game. So we would be in the bathroom, she'd sit on the toilet, get off, start getting her underwear/pants on, and then want to get back on the toilet. So, we'd be in the bathroom for (literally, I checked my watch) 15 minutes. Then, when we finally came out, it would either be a continuation of the game, and I'd barely have time to sit down before she said "I need go pee" again, so we'd head back to the bathroom for some more up and down (which is really hard on a 7-month-pregnant body btw); or, she would finally go pee... in her underwear, and then freak out because its running down her leg.
      Wednesday night we had a seeming success. Nathaniel had her in the bathroom, and thought he heard something hit the water. I wiped her, and there was a little (tiny, miniscule, etc.) moisture, so it was possible. We counted it, in hopes that the positive reinforcement would make it stick, and we'd have more luck on Wednesday. Wednesday I noticed that if she moved just right on her little toddler seat it did sound like something was hitting the water. So it was likely a fake on Wednesday. Especially since Thursday was more of the same. By Thursday at naptime, I was at my wits end. I was cranky and in pain, and ready to give up, but having never dealt with potty training before, I didn't know what was normal, and didn't want to give up, if this was a fairly normal occurrence. So, I called my sister. She'd had a few struggles with potty training, which was part of why I called her. The other part is that I knew she'd done it recently with her girls. But I didn't want to talk to someone who'd breezed through potty training, who would say "well I don't know what's wrong with Jessica, my child was potty trained within a week". (exaggerated conversation completely from my mind)  Kathy said "I'd have given up a day and a half ago". So once "naptime" was over (Jessica didn't sleep, so once my sanity break was done, and I wouldn't strangle my child) she went back into diapers. We may try again after the holidays, depending on what Jessica is doing, but with that being so close to new baby, and the likelihood of regression, we'll probably wait until Jacob is here before trying again. Besides, if my 7-month pregnant body can't handle it, I have no idea how I'd be able to handle it in another month.
      So, Thursday afternoon and Friday were much better days, as far as my mood and temperament go. Thank heavens for that, I was getting really bad there for a while, and it was making me depressed. (which obviously didn't help).
      However, Friday and Saturday were SOO extremely busy. It was payday weekend, so my weekend to run all my errands, but then there was also our Hiatt family Christmas party, as well as sibling gift exchange, on Saturday afternoon. So I was running around crazy, trying to get everything done. It was good though. I was just so exhausted by the end of the day yesterday, that I went to bed at 7:30. I do have pictures because of the party though.

        The party started at 2:30, and Jessica's nap didn't start until about 1:20, so when I went in to get her, since we had to wake her up early, this is how she was sleeping. So cute. I love watching her sleep.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of Jessica "helping" Nathaniel build a graham cracker house, or decorating her little cardboard Christmas tree, but I blame that on only having a camera on my phone. Maybe I'd do better if I had an actual camera. (I'd hope)

     My brother and sister-in-law had our names this year, and we were given a 45 pound bucket of wheat.YAY! I was out of wheat to grind, and well, seeing as I grind my own flour to bake ANYTHING with, and I make all our bread, being out of wheat is a bad thing. Then they gave Jessica a recordable book. It's the Frosty the Snowman story, and you can just leave it as is, and it will tell the story as she turns the pages, or I can re-record it, and so its my (or Nathaniel's) voice reading it to her. She loved it! Not much of a surprise there, but still. I think she sat with about 3 or 4 different adults and read it with them (and various of her cousins) throughout the next hour we were there. As well as "reading" it by herself a couple times.

 

Then it was our turn to give our gift. We had my younger sister. One of my favorite things about rotations, is that I can give big gifts like this. It's a crocheted blanket, and as far as the size goes, it covers the top of our queen-size bed. I started it at Christmastime last year, and worked on it throughout the year. I finished it in about October, but I also completed other projects during that time, and there were times I didn't really work on it at all, so I can't say how long it took me. However, it was probably the longest I've EVER spent making an afghan. 

 

I had found this pattern, and thought it was gorgeous, so I decided to use it, not realizing that it meant that every row, would only increase the size of the blanket by half of the row's height, because it goes down halfway into the previous row, because of the scallops. That and I had made the starting chain too long, so had I made the blanket with horizontal stripes (as originally intended) it would have been big enough for a King-size bed. (So I just stopped early and turned the blanket, making it queen-sized)  So it took a lot longer to even finish a row, and then it would only increase the size of the blanket by about a half-inch. That was really frustrating, but oh well. It made a gorgeous blanket, and once I washed it... Oh my goodness! It was so nice and soft and gooshy/squishy. I wanted to keep it, and have been very much so considering making another one of this exact pattern for Nathaniel and I (though maybe a solid color, so I don't have to keep switching) because its so nice and soft. 

     So yeah, that was my week. This next week will probably be entirely like Friday and Saturday. I have 8 projects (gifts) to finish this week, but luckily, most of them are very close to finished. Plus, I have my midwife appointment tomorrow, and then Nathaniel's family is coming into town on Wednesday(ish). Way super excited for that, but it does mean less time for working on projects (especially those for those people).