The white flag is waving...

Well...I think that I've made a valiant effort. I really thought that the attempt we made in potty training our daughter would take. However...after being gone from the house for 2 hours this morning we went through 2 changes of clothes after she peed until even her socks were soaked. Then, to top it all off...she poopied in her panties yet again right before nap time. Which really just confirms for me (after talking to a dear friend and my mom) that she simply isn't ready to potty train. So...she is currently in a pull-up...and that is what she will be in until she starts to tell me when she needs to go potty on her own. As a dear friend of mine put it when I tried to explain that she would go tinkle every time I brought her back to the potty - "That means you are trained, Amy. Not Kendall." I don't think Kendall will like it...but at this point...I am tired of cleaning poopy out of panties...I am tired of going through three and four pairs of panties and shorts a day...and most importantly...I am tired of being angry with Kendall. As much as I try to not be angry...every time she has an accident or poops in her pants...it just builds and builds and I struggle not to yell at her. So...I guess I have two in diapers again. Yay.

Here are some pictures of my little ones...so adorable!

Apparently drawing on your brother with chalk is fun...at least it wasn't permanent ink or something...

Kendall's 2 1/2 year picture, and Carson's 1 year picture

Our youngest "child," Rally, who is over 60 pounds by now and taller than Chance...but is oh so adorable.

Kendall sure loves Chance!!!

What a ham!

You can't make this stuff up...

It is now after 8pm on a day that I would rather forget...the kids are in bed - Carson is asleep, but Kendall is still winding down. Jeff is at his weekly Gator Quarterback Club (a booster organization)...and I am hoping that actually writing down the events of the day will help me laugh about it later...

It seemed to start out okay. Every Tuesday morning I have a mom's bible study at my church. This morning also happened to be a voting day...so I made sure I left just a bit early so that I could vote before I went into my bible study. I dropped the kids off in the nursery, and although Carson did his separation anxiety crying for a few minutes, he had calmed down by the time I walked past the nursery after voting. The bible study was a great group today - we talked about relationships not only with our husbands and families, but also with friends and how important they are in our lives, and how God puts people in our lives for a reason. Anyway - I went to pick up Kendall...and here is where it slowly started to go downhill.

One thing I briefly mentioned in a prior post is that Kendall is not really telling us anymore if she needs to go potty...she just fully releases everything in her panties and shorts/skirt/pants and keeps on playing. Well...it has progressively gotten worse and worse over the last few days. If my count is correct...we went through 5 pairs of underwear yesterday...and today...well...I did forget to mention above that Kendall completely wet her first pair of underwear this morning before we even left for church. I had sat her down on the potty about 9:10 and she tinkled a bit, and then 30 minutes later as we are rushing trying to put on shoes and socks and get everything together to leave...she completely wets herself before I even get a chance to sit her on the potty (a practice I do before we leave the house to go anywhere...even if we are only planning on being gone for 5 minutes...we sit down on the potty before we go). Anyway - I digress... I pick her up from the nursery and she is completely wet yet again. Miss Barbara in the nursery (one of the nursery workers and a GREAT lady) told me that they took her to the potty once and asked her several times if she had to go (all within the hour and a half of our bible study)... Luckily - I have been packing 2 changes of clothes since we've been potty training. So we go sit on the potty and change her clothes and go to the mall with the rest of the ladies for lunch.

When I get to the mall, I had to return some shirts Jeff had bought at Jos A Banks because they didn't fit - and the store manager gave me a really hard time about returning them - even though I had the original receipt - because they weren't still all wrapped up in the original packaging (Jeff had taken them out of everything and then tried them on - and just made sure to attach the price tag to each shirt when we put them back in the bag). Anyway - she went so far as to bring each shirt up to her nose and smell them to make sure they didn't smell of cologne or dry cleaning. I'm sorry...I know that there are some unscrupulous people out there that would buy something, clean it, and try to return it as new...but that isn't something we do. Plus...Jeff is a VERY good customer of Jos A Banks (it is pretty much the only store he ever buys any suits, ties and shirts in) and most of the sales clerks know us by first name basis. Needless to say...that ruffled my feathers just a bit.

So we got lunch...pretty much a non-event...then we tried to use the potty again before we went down to the play area in the mall (what we mom's affectionately call the "germ pit")...and Kendall tinkled a little bit...but not much. Well...within 15 minutes of being in the play area...I notice that her shorts (the third pair if you are keeping count) look a bit more padded than a bottom without a diaper should look. So...off we go to the potty again...and sure enough...poopy. Bad enough that I had to throw away her panties and wrap up her shorts because it had seeped a little bit onto the crotch of her shorts (and no...it wasn't runny for those people that might be concerned...just well...um...squished into everything). So I put her in her 4th pair of panties and shorts for the day and we head home.

The kids take a nap and I talked to my friend, Kelly, about another issue that is miffing us a bit, but which I don't think is appropriate to bring up in my blog quite yet...but enough of a frustration that we ranted for a few minutes.

After the kids woke up from their nap...they played in Carson's room as I put laundry away and started another load and did just general pick-up stuff...then I notice that yes...Kendall is soaked yet again. So...off we go to the bathroom. This time, I made her wear a diaper "like a baby" and told her to go to bed and let me know when she is ready to be a "big girl" again. Within just a few minutes I hear "I ready to be big grirl!" So I go into her room, take her out of the diaper and put her in another clean pair of panties (anyone keeping count?? that would be panty pair number 5) and we talk about how important it is that she lets me know when she needs to go potty, or if nothing else, tell me right away that she needs to go and to not play in it. She, of course, is nodding earnestly and has the most sincere look on her face when she says "Yes, Mommy."

So the kids play in the playroom while I get dinner ready...dinner is pretty much a non-issue...amazingly...and then we still have time to play before bath and bedtime. So we all go into the playroom, but shortly thereafter the kids start running around the house a little bit. I sit and listen to them "talking" and then Kendall comes to me and says "Mommy, the kitchen is slippery"...which typically means that Rally peed on the floor and it is now wet and slippery. So I go tromping in there...and sure enough...there is a little bit of wet on the floor in front of the refrigerator...but nothing too much...not like what Rally typically does. But...I think it must be him and go about cleaning it up. So...here I am...on my hands and knees wiping a kitchen towel across the floor...Rally starts coming up to me and prancing around like he thinks I'm playing. I shove him off a few times...but then...next thing I know...he has his front paws on my side and he pees on me!!! I guess I've officially been marked as "HIS". I'll give you all a few minutes to stop laughing... Done? Okay... Luckily he only peed enough to get my arm before I screamed and jumped up then just about threw him out the back door. So I thoroughly washed my hands and arm...and as it was time anyway...I take the kids into the bathroom to get their baths. Kendall then says to me "I have to go potty". I get all excited thinking that she was telling me finally...when I notice as I'm helping her take off her panties...that they are soaked... Which means that the small puddle I was blaming Rally for...was most likely Kendall's...

So we finish up baths and I get the kids in their pj's and since I never got the dishes cleaned up, I turn on Dora for them while I clean up the kitchen. So as I'm standing there, water running, garbage disposal running...my gold, diamond hoop earring falls off and before I can stop the garbage disposal...yep...it goes in. I got these earrings as a gift from Jeff when we were still dating I think. The diamonds aren't (or should I say "weren't") large...but of the approximately 15 baguette diamonds in the one earring that fell..only 3 are left...and the gold is completely mangled. Jeff doesn't even know this yet...he should be on his way home soon...and I still get to tell him all about it...

When I sent out the e-mail back in April introducing Rally, one of my friends said that with two in diapers and a brand new puppy...I should have enough material for a very funny book...I guess that I can see now that she was right. Let's see, several chapters would be just on potty training and how I think changing diapers the rest of a child's life would be easier than the frustration of potty training..and the other chapters would be on how if you have a friend that is talking about buying a puppy when she has two children still in diapers - that you need to put her in a straight jacket and take her away to the funny farm...because even if she isn't completely crazy at that moment...give her a few months and she will be.

Uh oh...someone knocked at the door...it must be the men in white coats come to take me away. As long as they have quiet rooms and I don't have to do laundry, cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, or telling a 14 month old that eating dog food probably isn't the best idea...I'd gladly go with them!

She did it!!!

Although it may be a one time thing...and may not happen again for a long time...our little, ahem, big girl finally pooped on the potty tonight!!! I know that there are probably those of you out there that read my blog that don't have kids and don't understand the big brew-ha-ha when it comes to little ones pooping on the potty...but trust me when I say...it is HUGE that she finally pooped! We have been potty training now for just over 3 weeks...and really only 2 1/2 of those have we actually started peeing on the potty. I can't begin to explain how hard it is to stay calm when you are cleaning out a dirty pair of panties... When they are wet...not so much a big deal...you expect that to happen. But...when they are dirty...well...it adds a whole different dimension to the equation. I guess as adults, we get so disgusted at the thought of pooping in your underwear...that it is hard to understand why little ones are so reluctant to do it themselves. And it isn't just Kendall that has been reluctant to poop on the potty. All the mom's in my bible study have told me that pooping on the potty takes a long time. I've read lots of theories as to why that is...such as feeling like poop is a part of them (like an arm or a leg), so it is scary for them to flush it down the toilet. So the fact that she actually pooped on the potty tonight is a BIG deal.

Kendall was sitting on the potty, "reading" her High Five magazine (by the makers of Highlights), while I was getting her pj's and night-time pull up, when I hear her call out from the bathroom "Mommy, I poopied!" At first I thought I must have mis-heard her...because she had refused to even try to poopy every time we even mentioned it before. So I said, "What?" as I was walking in the door to the bathroom. She said "I poopied!" and moved a little bit on the potty so that I could see that she did in fact do it. I ran to the monitor in her room and yelled for Jeff to come right away. When he got there we proceeded to make a BIG deal about it - clapping our hands, giving high-fives, doing a poopy dance...you could tell that she was just so proud of herself!

Our big prayer now...is that she will do it again...soon!! :)

Sorry...only one picture this time...

Happy Hurricane season!!! As I type this, the rain is gently falling outside. It has been raining off and on most of the day here, but so far - nothing significant has come to Gainesville from Tropical Storm Fay. However, if the news and weather reports are correct, our area should get pretty wet and battered this evening. They are expecting between 5 and 10 inches of rain in some areas...fun fun. Thank goodness our house is not in a low area!!!


Kendall's potty training has been going...well...its been going. She still poopies in her panties (I've thrown 2 pair away so far because once we were out and I didn't have a place to clean them up, and once because they were just nasty...), and still refuses to tell me when she poopies. I just "discover" that she has gone...either by the pungent smell radiating from her bottom...or from me telling her it is "potty time" and there is a load in her panties when we take them off in the bathroom. Everyone that has gone through potty training has told us that the poopies take the longest to get them to do...I sure wish that Kendall would be the exception rather than the rule on this one. And as far as tinkling in the potty...even that really isn't much better. I've found that I can't wait for her to tell me that she needs to go...because she won't tell me until a) she is already completely soaked or b) she has just tinkled a little bit and finishes off in the potty. So I try to make it a habit that we go and sit on the potty and "try" to go at least every hour and a half. Then...there are normally only 1 or 2 accidents throughout the day. Let me tell you what...I've never been so good about keeping my laundry up...I have to in order to make sure that we have enough clean panties around...


Carson has been doing great and is really starting to show more and more of his personality. He LOVES to make people laugh and loves to make noises on an almost constant basis. He is also a very determined little boy and doesn't quite grasp the word "no"...ever... And I am making a prediction...he will be climbing out of his crib within the next 2 months. He LOVES to climb on things and over things and into things and around things. I've even walked into his room to get him from his nap and seen him trying to put his leg up on the upper railing of his crib. Now, if you remember, Kendall climbed out of her crib when she was 16 months old...but she only did it the one time and never again. Carson...well...I have a feeling we will have to get a crib tent for him! hehe


Jeff is doing well...working hard and trying to keep clients calm in this economy. Poor guy. I can only imagine how much stress he is under on a regular basis...trying to keep his clients from pulling all their money out of the stock market and just hide it under their beds until the economy turns around. He does pretty well, however, of not bringing too much of that stress home around me and the kids. Occasionally he had a rougher day than normal, and he is obviously a little out of sorts when he gets home. But most of the time he comes home and grabs both kids and gives them hugs and kisses and tries to forget about his day for the rest of the night.


I am doing well...ready for school to start back up...but doing well. Because of potty training, we have been sticking relatively close to home the last few weeks...so any chance I get to run out for even an hour with the kids...I try to. Today the kids had a hair cut and then we went to my girlfriend, Kelly's house for a "play date" with her 4 kids and our other friend, Lisa, and her 3 boys. It was so funny...we were sitting around Kelly's kitchen table, drinking coffee, discussing an article in "Cookie" magazine, when Lisa's son, Jonathan comes up behind us and says "Carson," and points to the corner of the kitchen where Carson was standing...carefully pulling everything out of Kelly's trash-can and putting it on the floor. We all died laughing. The last I had looked, probably not even a minute before that, Carson was just busy pulling magnets off of Kelly's refrigerator. I guess the trash-can was just too enticing for him.



Here is a picture of Carson from yesterday. He and Kendall were watching a show on TV while I was writing out some long overdue thank you notes from Carson's 1st Birthday party. I went into my office to get the addresses from my computer to put on the envelopes, and I heard Kendall say "Wake up Carson." I walk in and this is what I see...

How adorable is that??? I think the title to that picture should be "What is in that sippy cup??"

Pictures pictures and more pictures.

Did I say that I would post pictures as soon as I got home??? Well...what I really meant to say is that about 3 weeks after we got home I would post pictures from our vacation...haha Actually - I was reminded by my dear Mother the other day on the phone - "Where are pictures of our grand kids on your blog?!?!"

So...here are a bunch of pictures from the vacation as well as yesterday playing outside in a pool and sprinkler toy with the kids and Rally (Chance doesn't like water so much...so he didn't stick around for long...)



Day one in Oklahoma City in a "kids park."


Jerry with Kendall, and with Carson & Jeff. Mom says she doesn't see the resemblance too much...I guess it is more obvious in person...


The Oklahoma City bombing memorial. Very awe-inspiring...


No...this isn't the most recent subject of a Ghosthunters episode...it is actually the hospital where my dear husband was born over 41 years ago...


Angela, Cheyenne, Kendall & I, and Jerry, Cheyenne and Angela


Me and my girl in front of the emblem of my Alma mater - and me taking a dare that my husband gave me to get in the fountain in front of the library on campus ("What are they gonna do? Kick you out of school??")


Renee and me.


Michele and Ella feeding some gerbils, and the girls looking in at some animals.


Jeff and Carson meeting a Clydesdale at Grants Farm.


I know this picture is blurry...but I just love it since it is Kendall and Carson dancing.

My bruiser in an OU jersey that Jerry & co. got for him. I figure that about 18 years from now...this is gonna be the view of many guys on an opposing football team (although...Jeff and I would love it to be a UF jersey at that point...)

Kendall in her OU jersey.

Daddy & Kendall in the pool.

Carson running through the sprinkler.

Kendall standing in the sprinkler.

Carson sitting on the sprinkler (it took a lot of prodding...but he finally got in there...)

Oh...and some good news...drum roll please...Kendall is potty trained!!!! (kind of...) She isn't good about telling us that she needs to go until after she's tinkled a little bit in her panties...but she always stops herself and finishes off in the potty. She also still hasn't pooped in the potty...but I've heard that can take a while. She also still wears a pull-up at nap time and at bedtime...but I think we can take it away from nap time probably in another week or two (she was only wet one day at nap time this week). So...our goal for the next few weeks is for her to tell us she needs to use the potty before she goes any little bit...and for her to start pooping on the potty. But...in the meantime...I am officially really only a mother of one in diapers now!!! Yippee!!!