Potty Training 101

It has now been about 2 1/2 weeks since we began the whole potty training. I felt like Cache was ready and with the urging from my pediatrician to get him potty trained before the baby I decided we should start earlier than later in case things fall flat. I must say that he is about 80% potty trained with a little problem areas here and there. Most of the day he doesn't have accidents although it seems some days are better than others. He doesn't really tell me when he has to go potty I just keep asking him like every hour and remind him he gets candy if he goes on the potty (yes I am one of those parents who has no shame in bribing her child!) However, we have come across a rough patch and I am in need of any advice anyone can give me. Cache has never pooped on the potty, he would either do it in his underwear or on the floor or in his pull ups. So on saturday we tried all day to get him to go on the toilet and would remind him if he goes poop on the potty he gets a toy (again the bribing tactics.) Well when evening rolled around he started crying that his bum bum hurt and was running around like a looney person holding his butt. We assumed he had to poop but was either confused on where to go or constipated. So we tried putting him on the toilet, read books, sat there forever....nothing. For like an hour he would just cry and I finally had enough and put a diaper on him. Still he wouldn't poop. He just cried and ran around saying it hurt, I seriously was at my witts end. So we went in the bathroom (with his diaper on) and I just rubbed his belly and tried to get him to relax and he finally went. Then the next day it happened again so I didn't know what to do other than just put a diaper on and ignore him. We haven't mentioned to "poop" word around him for the past few days, but I just don't know what to do. I decided to do nothing yesterday and leave him in his underwear all day (except at nap and bedtime I put a pull up on) and he just didn't poop. This is very unusual for my child. Nothing so far today but I am sure he is bound to run around crying at some point holding his butt. What do I do? I feel so bad but I really just don't want to scare him anymore about pooping and I know it hurts him waiting so long. I think this is what I get for the peeing part being so easy. Anyway, any suggestions would be helpful.

My baby room visions...

We have finished painting the baby room...I love the color I am just hoping furniture looks ok with it. So I convinced dave we could sand and repaint the crib and dresser white...wow it is a lot of work. I have done this a million times but when dealing with a 2 year old and being pregnant in 100 degree weather it is much harder than I imagined. So I had another idea, since I have pretty much gotten the dresser paint ready (stripped and primed) and am so worn out maybe I could convince dave to let me sell our crib and buy a cheaper already white one. He agreed (only because I think I had a melt down week and he just didn't want any more) and in one day sold my crib on craigslist. So I have been researching and found a cheaper crib that seems to be pretty durable and made by a good company and.......they have no sales tax and free shipping this month. Yeah! Now back to my dresser I am thinking I want to paint it silver, I tried the silver spray paint and it shows everything so I am trying to figure out what it would look like if I silver leafed over it. Has anyone done this to furniture before. I am afraid it is going to take forever and not turn out like my vision..Isn't it beautiful. This is the creation in my head...hopefully I can make something similiar. I am not holding my breath.

Back from Mexico

Swimming

Hopefully the floaties really work when he throws him in the water!!!!

We ate at a restaurant in the mountains overlooking downtown...it was really beautiful

A little bored waiting for food at the restaurant

I guess people having sex during their cab ride is a problem in Puerto Vallarta

One of the guys on the beach was selling these spiderman's hooked to a parachute, cache loved this toy

At the day care that we used once for a half hour

Dinosaurs (at least they were to cache!)

Downtown visiting some of Clayton's friends

Our first Mexican bus ride (not as bad as in China but still not great)

So we made it home safe from Mexico....no swine flu, no hurricane, and no drug lords kidnapped any of us. We did come home with a little food poisoning (dave got it the worst) but for the most part we are all in one piece. We flew into Puerto Vallarta with my mom, brother, sister in law, aunts, uncles, and a family friend. It was hot and humid but so beautiful. We stayed in an all inclusive resort which did not have the best food but if I were to do it again I would definently go all inclusive with children. Never having to wonder where to eat and deal with children in a restaurant was worth the not so great food. Lots of swimming in the pool and ocean and a few trips downtown. It was so nice to have my brother there who lived there at one time and speaks fluent spanish...it made finding things much easier. Cache had a blast staying up late and getting lots of attention. He loved, loved, loved the pool and did so well shopping in town in the sweltering heat, OK not so bad just the humidity was bad(we didn't realize how hot and sweaty we would be so he went shirtless around town for awhile. His head was soaked with sweat he was so hot!) I enjoyed relaxing which was really not relaxing more like worrying that cache would fall in the pool when dave was not watching him close enough or climbing the railing on the balcony four stories up and falling. However, towards the end of the trip I think I mellowed a little and tried to just enjoy it all. I did get stung in my finger by a stupid bee that landed in my hair and when I went to swat it out it stung me. My finger swelled up and hurt for awhile.

We had so much fun hanging out with my family and wish my dad and sister could be there. I loved waking up and sending cache over to my moms room so I could get a few more zzzz's, wish that could happen every morning! It's always such a sad feeling to leave my family, I hope we don't have to always end our vacations with not being able to see eachother for months at a time.

Cache's New Room

Yay! We just got Cache's new furniture (thank you cortate furniture for great stuff at great prices) and got his room all set up. I am so excited! The bed is a little high, hopefully he doesn't fall off. I have been putting pillows around his bed until he gets use to it. So we are going to have some material I found made into a quilt for his bed and once that is finished I will be done with his room until I can finish the babies room and figuring out what to do with all the stuff I had stored in the baby room. Anyway, I am just so happy with the furniture and how it turned out. I will show pics later of the color I chose for babies room, I fell in love the minute I put it on the walls. It is such a great color. It's always fun to make some changes. :)

Utah...my home

Watching the motorcycles come home

Just wants to be outside

Driving the boat, pretty good for a 2 year old!

Unloading the four wheelers

Welcome to our cottage!

Last week Cache and I went to Utah so we could join our family for Raspberry Days in Bear Lake. It was amazing weather and we had such a blast...hopefully next time Dave will be able to join us. Cache loved Grandpa's boat and Aunt Kendall and Uncle Isaac's four wheelers. Whenever they would go out on the motorcycles he would have to stand on the porch watching them leave and then wait for them to return. We went out on the boat, however, the water was freezing. I got in just to swim and Clayton and Tiaunna were the only ones who would wakeboard. Lots of movies, fun times, and yummy raspberry shakes. We stayed in SLC the rest of the time and enjoyed the perfect weather. I think cache just enjoyed the fact he could run around all day outside and not fry. Sadly, we had to come home...it just seemed to quick.

My mind has been on overload...

I am now home from Utah, which was so much fun, and I have been rearranging my house like a mad woman on speed. I don't know why I get ideas in my head and then they have to be done right then with or without the help of my husband. So after going to my mom's house and seeing her room decorated downstairs I decided I needed all of the stuff in that room for my baby room. I had been trying to think of what I wanted to do with the room and once I saw the pink, cream, and silver's I knew that is exactly what I wanted to do. Think 1920's inspired silk's and satin's and oh so romantic. Having the loving mother I have, she agreed to let me have the curtains (half made) and the quilt (to take apart and make baby bumpers.) Still a lot of work to do, but I am sooooo excited. So now I just have to wait to get Cache's bed and dresser to arrive so I can get his room organized which will allow me to get the babies room cleaned out. We (cache did help pushing the book case into the office) moved furniture and boxes of fabric from the soon the be babies room into the office, where now I have to figure out where to put all that stuff. I wonder if when homebuilders design homes they think, hmmm...how can I make this home have as little storage as possible. I don't know how whoever built our home could have had so many opportunities to put storage in places and just thought, nah. Oh how I loathe that person right now. Anyway, here is my question to anyone who knows an answer; I am using cache's crib and dresser which are a dark cherry stained pine wood (I think it is pine.) There are so many scratch and bite marks, how can I sand and restain it? Can I just use regular stain? Do I need to put a finish on it? Will it work or will you be able to tell that I just refinished certain parts of the crib? Anyone know?

So next blog I will blog about my adventures in Utah and Bear Lake, it was so beautiful. Until then here are some amazing nursery rooms from projectnursery.com...

I'ts a.....

Girl! Well we are pretty sure it's a girl. The technician wasn't so sure at first because the baby wasn't cooperating, but by the end she said she was like 90% sure. Lets hope she is right because I forsee a whole lotta pink in the future.