Pumpkin Patch

Lily's preschool class had their field trip to Smith's Nursery this week. We went on a hay ride, walked through a millet maze, learned about early farm tools and equipment, saw a donkey, fed some goats, and got to pick out a pumpkin. It was a beautiful day for this outdoor fun!



Lilybug and her BFF, "Hannah Banana" (as Finn calls her)

The kids got to walk through a small hay maze on their own before we went into the millet maze.

They would have been perfectly happy to run back and forth through this little maze all morning!

Finn insisted on lining up with the big kids.

Looking at some early farm tools

Listening closely to the presentation

Finn made a friend.

Listening intently...and Lily appears to be mad...or smelling something unpleasant! :)

Meeting the donkey from a distance...apparently she's been known to bite!

Hannah feeding the goats

Finn feeding the goats...he thought that was the coolest thing EVER!

Me and the kiddos on the hayride back to the barn

Snaggle Tooth

Cassidy lost another tooth over track out, bringing her total to a cool 1/2 dozen. :)



It's so funny how other kids admire the gaping holes in her mouth!

Finny trying to keep his pearly whites clean.

Lily in her "ROCK STAR!!!" jammies. She has a new rock star dance that involves air guitar and lots of head-banging. :)

In completely unrelated news, we had the pleasure of playing with this adorable miss and her big brother last week. The princess made a beeline for the dress-up clothes and could not be talked out of this sparkly gown and its mountains of tulle, even though it was WAY too long for her. I offered many other lovely choices, but she would have none of it...she knows what she likes...and I must say she has excellent taste...she looks adorable! All I can say is the girls better be getting some dress-ups for Christmas! ;)

Finn has decided that he will be a duck for Halloween...althought it's next to impossible to remove his melon from that costume! :)

Lovely Belle...her Halloween plans change daily.

Cassidy announced last week that she's going to be a detective for Halloween...now how the heck am I supposed to put that costume together from our rack of princess gowns?!?!

Rachel decided to care for the largest of our babies...it was almost as big as she was!

SOOOOO SWEET!!!

Oh how I wish he'd be a puppy for Halloween this year! :)

Wiley was a doll the entire visit, but didn't want his picture taken, so I had to snap one quickly when his back was turned. :)

34 x 2

Joey and John celebrated their 34th birthday last weekend. Our families haven't been together for their birthday in, well, ever, so it was really fun to hang out and eat cake with each other.

HAD to do something cool (and easy) for our boys' birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday, Uncle John and Daddy....Daddy and Uncle Joey...TWIIIIINSSS! Happy Birthday to you!"

Joey scored some tickets for all of us to go see Scotty's album release/birthday concert at Walnut Creek. I made my family bring all those jackets...I NEVER get the weather right and we are often dressed inappropriately.

Waiting for the concert to begin

Cassidy and Daddy...Cassidy was NOT thrilled with all the noise...she's had this sensitivity to loud noises (unless she is making them, of course) since she was little...she doesn't like fireworks and often covers her ears in the movie theater.

Handsome Man...in his big boy underpants! :) BTW, he hasn't had a nighttime accident in over a week and is now pooping pretty consistently on the potty. He did have a poop accident this morning, but I gave him a bunch of fresh figs last night so I think I have to take the blame for that one...DEFINITELY over-fibered him.

Sweet Buggy

The whole gang

Gracie Lou

There was a huge crowd there to support our hometown boy. :)

Finn didn't make it through the concert...

...he completely passed out...

...and so did Connor!

Elizabeth and I paid for it with our backs. :)

We spent the rest of the day playing at the park, eating, and MAYBE we accidentally broke into a house. We managed to make a clean getaway so I'd say that was a successful birthday.

In other news, last week Lily's preschool class was invited to watch a Highway Patrol rescue training.

It was H-O-T that day, so although they were excited, the quickly wilted onto the pavement.

The rescue came complete with helicopter...pretty cool.

Lily, Hannah, Finn, and Cassidy

Lily with her best buds, Hannah and Kayleigh

Potty Training a Monkey - Days 3-5

Finn's got this "pee-pee in the potty" thing down. He hasn't had an accident (except for a dribble this afternoon that he stopped and then went to the potty to finish) since Sunday. Several times he has called for me and I've found him already in the bathroom on the stool trying to get his pants down. He prides himself on being a big boy now, which has been great except for one thing...

He's convinced that big boys NEVER sit on the potty.

This becomes an issue when it's time to poop because standing and pooping on the bathroom floor is frowned upon in this establishment. So obviously poop has been a bit of an challenge. It didn't help that the boy who usually goes twice a day didn't poop until Day 3 of potty training. I kept looking for signs that he needed to go...the panicked look, clenched cheeks and stiff legs, shuddering...but nothing. For 2 1/2 days he showed no sign that he body was quickly filling with toxic levels of poop. And then, of course, during the 5 seconds I wasn't on him "like white on rice" (as my dad would say) he pooped in his underpants. He at least knew that he needed to get to the bathroom, which was where I found him. Same thing happened again on Tuesday and this afternoon. I was feeling frustrated, not because of the mess, but because I have been so focused on catching him pre- or mid-poop so that we could have a chance to practice going on the potty and I keep missing my opportunity...and I only get one a day. Joey was calm (which was slightly irritating) and assured me that everything would work out and in the meantime there'd only be one clean-up a day. "Says the person who DOESN'T have to clean it up!" I retorted.

Turns out he was right. At dinner Finn suddenly said he needed to go to the potty. When I went to get him I could smell him immediately...more poop was trying to escape! I took him to the bathroom and began what had become our routine of trying to wrestle him onto the potty while promising to read him some books if he would sit still. He was not in the mood and giving me a run for my money so Joey came in to take over. After several minutes of screaming and crying, he had him calmed down...and then Joey came out of the bathroom and closed the door. We left him in there alone for about 5 minutes and when Joey went to check him he had pooped...A LOT! MAJOR CELEBRATION took place...dancing, candy, phone calls, hugs, and a dinosaur toy. Now that we're over that hurdle hopefully the pooping process won't be so harrowing.

Finn also stayed dry all night last night for the first time. We got him up about an hour and a half after he went to bed. He was tired and cranky and not at all inclined to humor our requests for a pee-pee in the potty. He threw a major tantrum which is understandable...I'd be ticked too if someone interrupted my sleep...but sleeping in pee is not an option. We finally told him he could scream and cry as long as he wanted, but he wasn't going back to bed until he peed. After a few more minutes of flipping out - just to make sure we weren't going to crack - he gave in and peed. This was a major victory because the more he gets used to the routine the easier it will be to get him up to pee in the night. AND he woke up dry, so he got big praises and a little toy this morning.

I think it's safe to say that potty training has been a success. We'll still have accidents from time to time, but the progress he's made in 5 days is awesome. DEFINITELY my easiest potty training yet! :) As promised, here's a picture of the monkey in his Mickey Mouse undies:

Lookin' good, Big Boy!!!

OH...and I HAVE to tell you this! (Alternatively Titled: Finger-licking Good)

Completely forgot to tell this story in Day 1 post, but it's priceless so it must be recorded so that when Finn is grown and has a son who does weird things I can pull up this post and and prove that the boy gets it from his father! :)

So yesterday evening I was with Finn in bathroom. He was using the potty for the second or third time in about 20 minutes...we were all so excited. Anyway, as he was going (in little spurts) he reaches down towards his parts and causes the pee to shoot on the back rim of the potty. I said something like, "That's OK. We'll just clean it up." and, before I can stop him, Finn reaches out, swipes his pointer finger through the little pee pool, and puts it in his mouth. IN HIS MOUTH, people!!! What on earth would possess him to do that?!?!?

And what did I do? Did I gag? Did I scream? Did spend the next 30 minutes trying to safely disinfect his mouth? No, I thought something like, "Eww, gross." I said out loud something like, "No, Finn, we don't eat our pee." and then I totally forgot about it before we even left the bathroom...I actually didn't even remember to tell Joey about it until today. He was totally grossed out, but that was it. If Cassidy had done that during potty training, he would have been on the Internet researching what dreaded diseases could be contracted from drinking your own urine. Guess we've officially crossed the line into veteran parents...and if you're not on fire or bleeding profusely, you'll be OK. :)

Potty Training a Monkey - Day 2

Still no picture of the world's cutest tushie in Mickey Mouse underpants...maybe tomorrow. I was still on full alert for pee pee accidents, so the camera didn't even cross my mind. We got Finn up at 10:30 p.m., a couple of hours after he had gone to bed, to try and pee. We've found that it helps to do this in the first few days/weeks/months to help them stay dry over night. With Cassidy, Joey would get her up right before he went to bed around 11:00 p.m. and then I'd get her up after I'd nursed Lily at her 4:00 a.m. feeding...this lasted for months. Lily hardly needed any help and within a couple of weeks was waking up crying when she needed to go in the middle of the night. It usually takes a couple of days to figure out what time(s) that specific child needs to get up and go...last night we missed the mark. Two hours was too long and he had wet the bed. We changed the sheets and got him back into dry underpants...and when he woke up at 7:00 a.m. he was still dry! HOORAY! This means he only needs us to get him up once in the night, which is completely fabulous!!!

We had a couple of dribble accidents this morning mixed with some successful trips to the potty. We ventured out to my parents' house for lunch - a definite no-no for potty training, but we have some family friends who are moving to Ohio this week and wanted to see them one last time - and of course Finn decided that was the perfect time to pee all over the floor...THEIR FLOOR. Fortunately they love us so we will probably be invited back.

From that accident till bedtime he had NO accidents. He even took a 3 1/2 hour nap and woke up dry, asked to go potty a few minutes later, and took care of business like an old pro. Here's what I learned today:

1. Boys' anatomy definitely has its advantages in potty training. Prior to starting this process I was focused on the challenges - sit or stand?, controlling the direction of the pee, etc. But the huge plus is that it's totally FUN to pee with boy parts. It's like your own private fountain. Finn is completely fascinated with the stream flowing from his body that makes bubbles in the potty water. And who wouldn't be? It's just plain cool. My point is after the initial fun of getting praise and treats wore off, I had a lot harder time on Days 2 and 3 with the girls. I think they were getting bored of sitting on the potty, but with Finn he gets to "play" with his own personal squirt gun and then get candy and stickers afterwards...there's NO WAY he's gonna get bored with this! (And, yes, as of today he refuses to sit on the potty unless he feels like he needs to poo poo...so I'm going to have to cart a step stool with me everywhere I go from now on!)
2. My son is a private bathroom user. We had some resistance and tantrums this morning and finally we (well, Joey) figured out that he wanted us to GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM. Now we get him situated, walk out, crack the door, and wait in the hallway. Within 10 seconds we hear a steady stream and a little voice calling, "Look, Mommy! Look, Daddy! I doing it!" I guess maybe I'd have a harder time if someone was in there staring at me and my parts, too. And - so far - he hasn't peed all over the room. He stands straight and goes right in the potty...SCORE!!!

Poo Poo still eludes us. Joey thought he had gone this evening, but when we got him up there was no poop in the potty. Joey was so sure that he'd heard it come out that he practically stuck his head IN the toilet to look for it. It's gotta be coming...he hasn't gone since yesterday so he can't hold it forever. We'll start supplementing his high fiber diet with fiber gummies in the morning to see if we can't get through our first poop tomorrow. And, honestly, I'm not at all worried. Peeing is the bigger obstacle to me because they do it SO many times a day. Poop usually only happens once or twice...messier, but a lot fewer clean-ups. And I went through a year of Lily purposely holding her poop, so nothing fazes me anymore.

Good day. Praise God for answering our prayers and making this whole process so easy!

Potty Training a Monkey - Day 1

So, I told myself that we NEEDED to wait to potty train Finn until Cassidy tracked out for her fall break because our schedule would be more relaxed. It would give him time to "get it" before we had to go rushing out the door every morning at 8:00 a.m. And that was true. But, I also dreaded the hyper-alert parenting state, the wet (and sometimes soiled) carpet, sheets, floors, clothes, and sofas, and the occasional kicking and screaming that goes along with trying to convince a toddler that it's WAY more fun to put his pee pee and poo poo in the potty than to just go in a diaper that someone else is then responsible for cleaning. I've been down this road twice before and after the first three days that make you want to run screaming from the house, we've been blessed with great success. This time was different, though. I would be potty training a boy...I have no brothers so I'm learning as I go. I tried to tune out the "boys are so much harder" horror stories and keep a positive mindset...and I had a couple of friends who encouraged me with the "Sure he can do it! Boys are no problem!" talk. I reread my potty training guide - I actually read it to the girls so they would be ready to help. We picked out underpants and candy and other treats and we were all set.

Cassidy tracked out yesterday, so today was THE DAY...the day we would become a diaper-free house. I use the 3-Day Potty Training method, so after breakfast we took off Finn's last diaper and donned a pair of dinosaur underpants...he looked SO stinkin' cute! I'll have to remember to get a picture tomorrow. We've been talking this whole potty thing up for weeks now, but we showed him his sticker chart, reminded him to keep his dinosaurs clean and dry and tell us when he needed to go to the potty. Then, like a hawk, I watched and waited. These training days are long and boring, and often frustrating, but the end results are well worth the time and effort.

I won't bore you with all the details of accidents, rushing to the potty, false alarms, and the pee pool in his seat at dinner that I didn't discover until I was getting him down...he apparently was too busy eating to mention that he was floating in urine. BUT, I will tell you this as an encouragement to all the parents who dread potty training - although we went through 10 pairs of underwear today, we saw some really great things. (I think sometimes you have to look past the accidents to see what they're "getting" and what they can already do these first few days.) Except for two big accidents, every other accident was a small dribble or even just a tiny spot in his underpants, which tells me that he knows how to stop the pee from coming out. We ran to the potty 100 times to sit and do nothing and get back down, but I knew all of those times that he wanted to go sit on the potty he actually NEEDED to go. He was able to listen to his body even though he hadn't quite figured out how to relax and get the pee pee out once he was on the potty. And then, finally, at about 7:30  this evening - with Joey's help and prayer (they actually prayed together in the bathroom) - he pee peed in the potty for the first time. He was SO proud and we did a celebratory dance, passed out stickers, Reese Pieces, and prizes, and called everyone we knew. The kid KNEW he had done something big, and since he'd figured out HOW to do it, he went twice more in the next 20 minutes.

We are definitely not done. We still have lots of practicing to do, we still have to conquer the nights and poo poo, but Day 1 definitely ended on a high note...which helps us feel rejuvenated for Day 2. And now our little monkey, who's not so little anymore, is sleeping blissfully in his big boy bed in a pair of underwear "just like Daddy." :)