Update, Update, Read All About It!

It's been a while, hasn't it?

February -- went on a good first date which turned in to several good dates which turned in to me having a boyfriend. I don't precisely know how it all happened, actually. I think he said something along the lines of "wanna be a couple" and I said "sure, why not?" And so we did. Or did I say it and he responded? Whatever. We're a couple of weirdos so that's what matters most, right?

March -- running, running, running... The Man went out of town for 2.5 weeks. He was supposed to be gone for 3 weeks but he came back early and scared the crap out of me. In a good way, though.

April -- I. Finished. The. Race. I did it. Barely. And how did I celebrate? I jumped on a plane and flew to Washington. I'll be doing the race again next year. It's unclear at this point if I'll be doing the Honolulu Marathon this year. Maybe I'll save that for 2017.

May -- I gave my two weeks notice at my Insurance job and started working with a University instead. This was a move not taken lightly. I'm earning about $2 more an hour and in January 2017 I'm hoping to start classes again towards my bachelor degree. I'll probably only be taking around 6 credits but it'll be worth it for the long haul. The Man also went away for three weeks to Big Island for some field training.

June -- Transitioning to my new job. My brain ceased functioning for a while.

July -- The fourth came and went. I lost my phone to ocean water. I got quite the nasty sunburn. My brain was still boiling from my new job.

August -- The brain is still churning... it's getting better and easier. While the brain is finally figuring this madness out, my hips are getting pissy. Or, rather, they're getting wider. I'm up in the 205s to 210s.

No Bueno.

So I'm at this point now where I'm trying to balance working, working out, meal prepping on a budget and conveniently, date nights, and keeping up on house-ly duties, like laundry and dishes. I have ideas on how to streamline my meals. The trouble starts when I don't stick to my planned meals, I miss lunches/snacks, I cut my lunch hour short and miss my workout lunch hour.

I'm committing to a healthier me. I'm committing to run nightly (I now have a running partner who lives 3,000 miles away, LOL). I'm committing to meal prepping. I'm committing to working out during my lunch hour. This all is starting after I'm horrible cold goes away. It's hard to workout when you cough up your lungs every so often.

I solemnly swear I'm up to no good.

Aloha from Oahu!
Xxoo
Lisa

Potty Training - how have I not written about this yet?

Potty training, how have I not written about this yet?
I read all the books, took quizzes, read blogs and other people's experiences, I was ready. But more importantly Little Miss was ready. She showed all the readiness signs that I had read about,  and plus she has always been ahead of the learning curve, she is bright. Knowing all this, I made a plan. I was prepared and this was going to be easy.
That was 2.5 years ago, before Little Man was even born. I made up my mind from the beginning that I was not going to buy one of those little toilets, (because what mommy needs one more thing to clean) and I was not going to bribe with food treats. (because I had read that using candy or sweets as a reward can set a child on a track for diabetes and obesity and with our family history, I just didn't want to go there) My plan was to use the "cushie tushie" or a potty seat that just sits on top of the regular toilet. In my mind, this was the ideal way to train. We got a wonderful potty book that we would read and we just stayed positive about the whole thing.
Well after a few months of just going at her pace and having little success, LittIe Man decided to join our family, so we relaxed about the potty. Then we moved. We started trying again once we were settled, and were having little successes. It was exciting to see her grow up and be independent. Well, we moved again. Once we were settled back in Rexburg we got going again and got into our routine of just a few successes with a lot of accidents and mess. Soon enough the one year anniversary of our potty journey came and went and I felt like we were still at the starting line, we had made no progress, a whole year wasted.
I decided to add in a sticker chart, because stickers aren't sweets surely that would be fine. Well, stickers lead to short term success, then we needed a better prize. We got princess shoes, dress up clothes, coloring books, if she showed interest I used it as a prize. Well, prizes also lead to short term success. I was completely baffled that this wasn't working. I'd done everything I could, I'd followed the plan. When Grammy had seen my frustration she immediately recommended getting a little potty and putting it in the living room. I shot this down before she could even finish. I did not want to clean one of those stupid toilets! "But that's what worked when I trained you" she told me. Again and again and again. Each time driving my resolve, I couldn't be wrong and her right!
Soon enough along comes our two year anniversary of the start to our journey. By this point Little Man is now showing readiness signs too, and this momma is getting desperate. I had tried everything! Stickers, prizes, panties, 3 day training, her pace, my pace, books, books, books. I had had many friends tell me to use chocolate chips or mini marshmallows, so I caved. Because my friends being right was one thing, I could live with that, but my mother? Of course not. So chocolate chips are her motivation. It was working.
Well, we moved again. We are now in Othello. The kids have their own bathroom, and we started over, but with chocolate chips this time, and things were going ok. Grammy suggested again to get a little potty, but I didn't even think twice. I decided one morning to check out YouTube for ideas, an untapped resource. As I'm watching these videos Little Miss asks about what I'm doing, and I tell her, "I'm talking to other mommies and daddies to find out how they helped their kids to use the toilet." Her response, "well if we just had a little potty for me to use then I could do it." My jaw hit the sidewalk. You have got to be kidding me, this girl spent too much time with Grammy. So I asked, "If we had a little potty you would use it every time you needed to potty?" She adamantly affirmed. So during naptime that same day this momma left dad at home and went to buy a toilet (and some disinfectant wipes).
The kids were awake when I got home and they were so excited to see the new potty. By the end of the night she had had no accidents, and was loving the new potty. After the kids went to bed I broke out in song, "For the first time in forever, I feel like this might work." Hope. I had hope that I might not have to send her to kindergarten in diapers. An amazing feeling, but would it last?
I think we are about a week into it this time, and from what I can tell I think this is it. The stupid little potty has also had the happy side effect of getting Little Man onboard. I think he is on his way to big boy underpants. My hope is that they will both be done with diapers before baby 3 makes it's grand entrance in December. Except for nighttime of course, I've heard that's a whole new adventure.
My take away, it is ok for Grammy to be right, after all she has done this mom-thing before. And it is ok for me to be wrong, though we all know that only happens once in a blue moon. Also, it is ok for plans to change. And last but not least, the stupid little toilet is not that hard to clean out.