Potty Training....

This month's word is Potty.. brought to you by the letter P.. which has now taken over my life! I never thought I would ever devote so much of my day making sure that pee goes where it's supposed to go.. but alas, motherhood is a whole different story. Forget anything anyone tells you about potty training.. especially if you have TWO TODDLERS. There is no set a timer and your child will learn to go on a schedule.. haha, no that only works if you do nothing all day but make sure you know exactly what time it is at every minute of the day.. which I tried (lol, you should have seen my house!) What also doesn't work is trying to potty train both your boys at the same time.. because *DUH* they both want the duck potty! I mean who wants to sit on the froggy potty while your brother gets the new ducky potty? Not Ayden! lol! So here's what a day in my house has looked like this past week and a half (that's right people.. you can't always potty train your little ones in 3 days like the Internet tells you, haha!) So I'm sitting on the floor next to Garret sitting on the potty... it's been about 20 minutes now and I can tell he's got to pee but he's holding it like his life depends on it. So, it's either sit there for another 10-15 minutes until he gives up the fight or you let him up so he can run to the corner and pee on the carpet, lol.. first option it is. So while I'm sitting there Ayden decides he's a big kid now.. strips down fully naked and sits on the other potty.. but wow how boring is this? So what does my little fire cracker do? Runs! So I've got one sitting who would love for me to let him up so he can pee in the corner.. and I've got one running around the house butt naked who has almost no bladder control.. DECISIONS :) So I decide it will be easier to catch Ayden after Garret is done on the potty.. because for all I know Ayden has already gone and if I let Garret up I will have 2 messes to clean instead of one.. Ohh mommyhood :)

All in all it's really not all that bad... we are still having accidents (like this morning when garret just stood in front of the tv while I was vaccumming and peed a nice big puddle and then decided he was going to splash in it... ahhh) but then again, sometimes he uses the potty just fine. We haven't tackled anything but number 1 yet, but thank goodness he has enough control to hold #2 until he has a pullup/diaper on when he goes to bed. We tried the whole underwear thing ONCE and yeah I'm not a fan of cleaning poop out of fabric.. so we'll work on the night time/number 2 routine after we get number 1 down pat.

They are so lucky they are cute and tell me they love me and give me the sweetest hugs and kisses in the world :)
Oh and that they do this. My two little munchkins <3

Motherhood teaches me something new everyday

Teaching me doesn't even cover it. Not only am I learning more and more everyday, but nothing seems to surprise me anymore when it comes to my boys. Take my (almost) 2 year old for example. He's my little red head firecracker, and that is no understatement. I thought my (almost) 3 year old was wild at this age, but no, ayden takes the cake. This next year of "terrible twos" is going to test me as a mother more than I've ever been tested before.

His new "thing" is sticking things up his nose. I don't even realize he has anything up his nose most of the time until he sneezes and a little balled up piece of paper flies half way across my living room, haha! The first time it happened I was like OMG a huge booger just came out of that child and wondered how in the world did that just fly across the room like that? I went to go pick it up with a baby wipe, and realized it was a ball of paper. -__- REALLY son?! haha. Another thing my cute little demon has started doing is sticking anything and everything that he can fit in his mouth.. in his mouth. We have an easel with one side being magnetic, so I got them plastic letter and number magnets. Once again, I don't even realize whats going on until I see his chipmunk cheeks. When I hold my hand out he (thankfully) always spits whatever it is out into my hand.. but I'm talking like 2 of these letters at a time! He is getting his two year molars in right now, and he has never done the whole teething process very well, so I think thats where this new phase has stemmed from. And let's not even go there with the fits this child throws. My older son was a crier.. cried about anything and everything, and then turned into a screamer (funnnnn). But this one, he cries, he screams, he throws himself on the floor, into walls, etc and if there is anything in his reach, you better duck because 99% of the time, that toy or book is gonna come flying at your head at some point, lol.

I know he will grow out of it, so I'm not worried, and I know that he knows what he's doing is not acceptable because (get this) he puts HIMSELF in timeout. Yes, true story. Just this morning he was throwing a fit over something I can't even remember and he hit me in the face. I'm talking fist to fast with all his strength. Of course that does not fly with this mama, so he got yelled at and told NO with not such a happy look on my face. What did he do right after that? Went down the hall to sit in the timeout chair while crying for me. It was hilarious, but kinda broke my heart at the same time. So I gave him a minute to calm down, then sat down with him to explain that we do not hit, got a hug, and let him be on his way.

I feel like this is the only way to really let my boys know that I am not happy with something they did. I hate yelling at them, but at least they are starting to understand what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable at all.

My (almost) 3 year old on the other hand has pretty much grown out of his terrible two state in just the past few weeks. All the sudden he isn't crying over a toy, or pitching a fit, and hardly ever goes into timeout (unless he hits his brother while wrestling). He has one thing that he freaks out about, and that is his woody doll from Toy Story. He is obsessed, and it has absolutely taken the cake for his comfort item. He has to have it when he's sleeping, eating, taking a bath, etc. It never leaves his side.

I try to teach my boys to share all their toys, but with this one toy I always make sure if his little brother takes it, he has to give it back. I feel like it's a special toy to him and he shouldn't have to share that.

All in all, I think I am becoming a better mother everyday and I'm proud of my boys with how much they are growing up and learning. Garret is even singing along with songs from Nick Jr. and telling me what he does or doesn't want to eat for breakfast lunch or dinner.

I love my boys will all my heart, I just hope I don't go completely grey before they are 8 years old :)