Sunday, May 31, 2009

Potty training Day 3

Today was not any better than yesterday. In fact it was worse because there was poo involved instead of just pee. The stress factor was a little better since Matt was home to help with Zoe. I feel bad for Matt tomorrow when I go back to work and he will be alone dealing with this. I don't want to go back to diapers at this point because I feel like it would backfire on us the next time we try. People have suggested that maybe he's just not ready but the author of the book assures the readers that any child over 22 months is ready. Maybe she's never met a child like Henry! He knows when he has to go but refuses to go once he gets on the toilet. He is very stubborn! The good thing about the book I'm using is that the author will allow you to ask her questions. I wrote to her this afternoon asking for advice because I am at a loss.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Potty training - Day 2

Today was one of the worst days in my life as a mother. I hate potty training!

It was really frustrating because he would say he had to go so we'd go to the potty and as soon as he sat down he would say "I'm done." This would happen over and over multiple times for about 10 minutes then he would pee all over the floor! Why wouldn't he just go?! while all this was happening I tried to not let my frustration show, which was really hard. It seems like he freezes up when he sits on the toilet.

I am hopeful that tomorrow will be better!

Potty Training First overnight

Well Darn! I woke up this morning at 6:00 and snuck into Henry's room to see if he'd wet the bed in the night and as I approached the bed I could smell the urine.I felt and sure enough it was wet. That boy sleeps too good. There have been a few times that he has thrown up in the night and went back to sleep so I'm not really that surprised. I woke him up an hour after going to sleep so that he could "try" to go but no luck. He was just mad that I woke him up.

I'm really nervous about today because Matt is going to be gone from 12:00 to past bedtime so I'm on my own. Hopefully Zoe makes it easy on me. My mom might come over to help for a couple hours this afternoon. We'll have to see what time Zoe wakes up from her nap and if she's available.

If you missed my recap of day 1 go read it! (here)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Potty Training Day 1


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This morning Henry and I ate breakfast and then we threw away all his diapers (well, he thinks we did anyway! Zoe did some dumpster diving because she wanted them for herself.) After that we put on his big boy underwear. He also asked me if we were going to ride on the potty train. I thought it was cute.


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He chose the dinosaur underwear, very good choice for a beginner. Then we waited. and waited. and waited. I told him to keep his underwear dry and tell me if he had to go potty (about a million times) and I provided him with lots of drinks to start getting the bladder full. it took about 3 hours til we had our first accident. I scooped him up and ran into the bathroom. I felt so silly exclaiming "ew yucky! you got your undies wet!" He cried and cried "I don't like the potty! no, no, I don't want to sit on the potty!" I was starting to regret this decision. Maybe he can wear diapers til he's 5?


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We made this potty training day lots of fun and full of love and encouragement. We never told him he was bad, never made him drink anything or made him sit on the potty. We simply suggested that he drink his juice and reminded him to keep his underwear dry and to tell us if he had to go.

We played with trains,


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Zoe played too

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We built a fort

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We read some books

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After lunch Matt gave me a break from potty training and Henry had yet another accident. (Each time he would start to pee I would run him to the bathroom and each time we would be too late.) This time after Matt sat him on the toilet it started to flow. I guess he just couldn't hold it any longer. We had a party! Matt and I were singing the pee pee on the potty song and dancing and hugging. Henry got quite a kick out of us acting crazy like that. He got a prize for going on the potty, a Nemo fruit snack and a movie. (he doesn't watch tv except for about once a week so this was a big deal)

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After this he would do better he would say I've gotta go pee pee and we would take him and he would go on the toilet but we never made it with his underwear staying dry. He also didn't have any BM's today. I have to say that he was better at the end of the day than at the beginning. I am hoping for no bed wetting tonight but I know better. He always wakes up with a full diaper so I think I'm going to be changing some sheets tonight. Let's hope I'm pleasantly surprised!





Adventures in Pottytraining - T minus 21 hours


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I don't know what I've gotten myself into. I must be crazy right? Tomorrow we are starting pottytraining at the Hawkins house. Henry is 2 and almost 9 months old and still is perfectly content to walk around with excrement in his pants. I however am getting a little tired of it. I have been waiting for him to "show the signs of readiness" that every potty training article I read refers to. At this rate, if I wait for him to "show signs of readiness" he'll be wearing depends when he's 11. There is a 3-day potty training method that has been recommended to me by several of my online mommy friends and I am going to try it. Basically I have to stay home for 3 days and have a 3 day potty party (can you feel the excitement). If this works it will be worth it.

We've got big boy underwear, lots of prizes, extra sheets (I just know there is going to be bedwetting) and a toilet. What more do I need?

I will chronicle this journey for you all and hopefully we will have success by Sunday night!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Dreams of my Summer

Summer is upon us in the South. It isn't technically Summer until June 21st but The days are getting longer and hotter. I have a few goals for myself that I would like to put in writing so that I might hold myself accountable. These are my mid-year resolutions so to speak. I'd like to look back on this Summer as the best in a long time. I already feel like my 30's are better than my 20's ever were. If I can accomplish these goals it would make them even that much sweeter!



1. Do Something! - I feel like a lazy slug I want to do something productive everyday when I get home from work and on the weekends and I don't mean load the dishwasher either. I mean let's finish some projects around the house (Matt and I did paint the toyroom finally this past Saturday) , let's create something beautiful. Let's do something besides watch TV and update my status on Facebook every night.

2. Exercise- I am over the dreams of my 20's (that I never reached by the way) that I fit into a size 6 and look like a swimsuit model, it ain't gonna happen! but I would like to get into shape and be the best "me" that I can be. I have a lovely c-section belly that will probably never be bikini worthy but I can at least try to get rid of the spare tire.

3. Potty Train my son - Henry is the kind of child who could care less about going potty. He will walk around in the same dirty diaper all day long if I let him. If I ask him if he's got poopies in his diaper (which is really a rhetorical question since I can smell him from across the room) he insists "no, I don't have poopies" and then proceeds to cry and whine when I take him to change his diaper. He will be 3 years old on September 5 and I am going to try my darndest to meet that date with big boy undies on instead of Luvs size 4's.

4. Get better at photography and perhaps make money doing it. - I feel like I have an eye for photography. I have seen my photos get better in the last couple months and I feel like other people like my photography as well. Now whether people would pay me money to take their picture is another question entirely. I definitely want to use this summer to build my portfolio. If you want your picture done (no charge) and in exchange let me use it in my portfolio (and website) let me know!

I hope that by the end of this summer I will look back at this blog and know that I at least tried to achieve these goals and hopefully not in vain!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Zoe's Birthday Montage

I should have posted this a couple weeks ago but I've procrastinated. This is the montage I made for Zoe's Birthday. It is not long (about 7 minutes). I hope you enjoy it!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Free Hotdogs!!

Go here to sign up for a coupon for free Oscar Mayer hotdogs. It's easy peezy!

I heart faces Giveaway!

Iheartfaces.blogspot.com is doing a giveaway!

allPopart can turn any photo into a very cool work of art!

allPopart will generously provide one winner a 16x20 gallery wrap canvas 3/4” deep (an $84 value)!!PhotoPanels are a great way to showcase photos as unique pieces of art.

There are 4 ways to win. Go to http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2009/05/allpopartcom-canvas-art-giveaway.html to see the ways to enter to win. One way is as easy as going to allpopart, looking around and then leaving a comment at iheartfaces of what you liked the best.

Good luck!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

American Idol Finale

It's Idol Finale night and the competition seems to be in the bag for Adam Glambert but who knows, we may have a surprise tonght since I thought Kris did pretty good.

Adam- Mad world - This was good although I think he tried too hard to make it different than the first time he sang complete with trenchcoat. The trenchcoat was a bit theatrical, I liked how he sang it the first time, in a chair with a spotlight on him.


Kris - Ain't No Sunshine - Kris did a great job and I agree with Simon that he "won" round 1. You could tell with this performance that Kris is in it to win it and still believes that he can somehow overcome the Adam hysteria.

Adam -Change is gonna come - I don't know if I'm alone in this but I think it's kind of dumb when a caucasion sings this song. What do they know about the civil rights struggle? But, Adam couldn't help that since the producers picked the song. He did a good job singing it except I can't help but think that if I got Adam's album, the screeching would start to wear on my nerves after the first 3 or 4 songs.

Kris-What's going on - Simon thought that Kris did not do a big enough performance for the finale but Kris did what he does. That's his style. Did Simon want him to get up there and scream like Adam? I thought that his performance was well done and I applaud him for the song the producers picked for him.

Next up both had to sing this year's idol song "No Boundaries" This song has got to be the worst idol finale song evah! This song was too high for Kris and Adam was pitchy throughout the whole song. It seemed like an amateur hour. How could the judges criticize the song with Kara (who wrote it) sitting right there? I feel bad for whoever wins because this piece of doodoo has to be their first single! I think that the song was written with Danny Gokey in mind. This is just his kind of song and he probably would have sang it well.

I am really pulling for Kris tonight to win it all even though Adam will probably be crowned the next American Idol.

American Idol Finale Tonight

The end is near. (of American Idol that is) This season has been full of many changes ups an downs, and in and outs. We had a fourth judge added to the table this season and though she seemed to offer a different insight to the show and had more creative things to say than Randy's usual "yo, you can really sing dog" it was a bit much to have four judges each week. Paula was more sane this year than she has been in a while and her critiques were well thought out. They had a top 13 instead of top 12 and for the first time the judges were able to save someone from elimination. It gave Matt an extra week on the show but didn't help him to win it all. I didn't write a review of last week's show because it was a total farce and it was blatantly obvious to everyone in America that the judges and producers want Adam to win the whole shebang. It has been pretty obvious to me for the past few weeks but it really took the cake when Simon basically begged America to vote for Adam.

Adam and Kris both would be great winners but Adam is definitely the one to beat at this point. Kris is my favorite, he was a worship leader of a church at one point and I have a fondness for worship leaders since my husband is one :) Adam has the charisma to truly be a star for many years to come. I just don't know whether I would like the type of music he would do. Who knows? He might suprise me.

My favorite performance this season has been "Tracks of My Tears" performed by Adam. My favorite contestant was Allison and I hope she goes on to be a successful singer/musician!

Watch tonight as they battle it out for the title of American Idol

Having 2 blogs is tiring :) Pics...

I just wanted to let you know that I have some new posts on my photo blog. One is a contest for best face picture to be in a major publication and one is some more pics of Zoe from our session at the lake.
http://hawklady-selfportrait.blogspot.com/

Thanks for looking.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Pics at Mickey D's

On Friday Henry and I met Grandma, Aunt Bubba, Leilani and Lindy at McDonalds for lunch and playing on the playground. They had a blast and Henry cried when we left. He kept saying "I just want to stay here!" I took some pics of the kids playing. Click here to see some of them.

Bedtime and Bruises

Henry ran into the wall at church today and got a nasty bruise on his nose, yes, I said he ran into the wall. His poor nose is so swollen! I thought at one point that he may have broken it. There's no hope for him being coordinated and playing any type of sport at this point. We'll have to focus on academics instead if there is any hope for a scholarship in his future :)

I snapped these pics while Matt was reading to Henry at bedtime tonight. I thought they turned out pretty good. (click on the pics to see them big on my photo blog).


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Thursday, May 14, 2009

We're going to the Zoo!

We are going to the NC Zoo on Saturday, which is fun in itself, but the real reason I'm so excited to go is that I am going with 2 people that I have "talked" to almost everyday for the last 2 years and have never met. We met on babycenter.com and are part of our own group called the Pink Sheep.

We are all scattered throughout the country from NY to CA from Illinois to Mississippi. Stacy lives in NC, Steph lives in VA and I am in SC so we are trekking to what is seemingly our halfway point in Asheboro, NC.

Rain is in the forecast (40% chance) but we are forging ahead hoping and praying that the rain holds off!

I'm excited that Henry will get to meet Shawn and Callie who were both born in the same month as him. I hope that the kids are in good spirits and that we have a wonderful time. I know that I won't want the day to end after it's over. I really hope that one of these days we will be able to all meet. We always joke that if one of us wins the Lotto we will pay for us all to go on vacation together. We have even suggested that we all move into the same neighborhood together! Can't wait to meet you guys on Saturday!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Post 102

I just noticed that I had 101 posts and I missed it! Oh well, I'll celebrate post 102 instead :)

I preordered the Cake Wrecks Book today!! I can't wait to get it.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Zoe Smash Cake!

Today is Zoe's Birthday and I let her have at a birthday cake while recording it in pictures (of course)

Click here to see more pictures of Zoe's Smash cake!
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Friday, May 8, 2009

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Then
Today is Zoe's birthday. She was born via c-section at 11:20 one year ago today. She has brought such joy and comfort to my life. Zoe is a beautiful baby and everyone feels the need to tell me so everywhere we go (I don't mind:))

Zoe loves to cuddle and give kisses and I can tell already that she has a great sense of humor. Zoe's favorite person is Henry and she adores our dogs, especially Abner.

She is sensitive and gets her feelings hurt easily so we have to be careful. I look forward, this year, in seeing what kind of toddler she will be, she was such a different baby than Henry so I can only assume that she will be a very different toddler as well.

Now

Photo Session

I went to the lake today to take new Pictures of Zoe. Click on the link or the photo below to check out some of my favorites!




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Thursday, May 7, 2009

National Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Pray for our nation, our president, and our military today. Sometimes life gets busy and I forget to pray til I'm lying in bed at night. take a few minutes today to ask God for his help in your life. God wants to hear you and he wants to help you. Thank God for all the blessings we have. Even though these are tough times we are still so blessed compared to others around the world.

What is something that I can pray about for you today?

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

American Idol Rock Night

Today's blog is somewhat short as I was trying to clean up a little while watching the show instead of taking notes. The contestants sang duets with eachother, a first for Idol.

Adam - Whole lotta love

I agree with the judges I think he did a great job. There's not much to say about Adam except that he is going to win the show at this point. I will be floored if he doesn't! He kinda went crazy with the bedazzler on his leather jacket but I guess "rock stars" are supposed to dress kind of garishly.

Allison - Cry Baby

The judges didn't like Allison, are they serious? They're just being nitpicky at this point! There are only a handful of people who can sing that song and do it justice and Allison is one of them. She was kind of getting frustrated with the judges and finally talked back.

Kris and Danny - Renegade

I think they sounded really good harmonizing together. I agree with Simon that Danny did better than Kris.

Kris -Come together

He made the song sound modern and I think he did a good job, I again didn't agree with the judges!

Danny -Dream On

It was a little bit strange especially the high part and the screech at the end. He was dressed a little strange for the rock theme.

Allison and Adam Slow Ride

I was looking forward to this performance for the whole show and it was worth the wait. Their voices sounded great together.

It is so hard to know who America will send home this week because they are all good!! Based on last night's performances Kris and Danny will be bottom 2 and Danny will go home.