something pretty & not so pretty

the not so pretty first.

{don't read this post if you are offended my words like poop and pee......mom}

potty training.

hardest thing i've had to do as a mother so far.

about a month ago we transitioned him to the big boy bed which went 

over more smoothly than i ever thought it would. he loves his "big boy bed!" 

and only fell out once. here is him on the first night in his bed.

steele was showing many signs of readiness but i needed to be ready too.

i couldn't decide weather i should commit and do it now or after the baby.

all i heard from everyone was "wait until he is ready". 

well what does "ready" mean?

here is the run-down.
at steele's birthday party my friend michelle russell told me
she followed a 3 day potty training program, and it worked.
i liked the idea of the program because it was an "all in" approach.
i didn't want to do this back and forth thing between diapers, pull-ups and
plastic underwear. so i committed. wednesday was the day and i
really didn't even prepare myself.

i won't go into all the details of the program
but in brief it puts the responsibility on the child to to tell you when
they need to go. so instead of saying millions of times a day
"do you need to go potty? do you need to go potty....."
you say "tell mommy when you need to go...ok?" and
"steele if you need to go potty let mommy know..ok?"

another "all in" aspect of the program is day AND night training.
NO diapers at all. NO pull-ups. nothing. needless to say it has been
a whirl wind of a few days BUT i am so glad we did it.

the first day was by far the hardest. i shed some tears but did my
best to not let steele see my emotions. i stayed very positive and
kept saying i am ALL in, no turning back now.

long story short, steele is potty trained but still has a hard time pooping.
today he did for the first time but i'm not sure he meant to.
he has ALWAYS had constipation problems so that is normal.
he drinks murilax everyday to help strengthen his muscles by using them.

i know he will still have accidents here and there and that
is normal. but he has not peed in his pants since day two.
he has it down and tells ME when he needs to go.
even at nap time he has been waking up dry.
nights are still a work in progress but that will come soon.

the reason i say he is potty trained is he passed my "out to eat" test
last night and told us twice when he needed to go and he had soda.
and has passed the "driving in the car" test. he makes me so proud.
you know you're a mom when you are sincerely over joyed when your
son grabs your hand and tells you he needs to go to the bathroom. ha.

first car ride with no diaper. you could tell he didn't like not having the padding
between the belt and his crotch. but he was very excited to get a "pockadoo"
when he got to grandmas with dry undies.
{the diapers got put in the car to prevent me from giving in.}

can't tell you how happy i am that i did it now. 

i wanted to give him a few months before the baby came to

really master it so he wouldn't revert too badly.

the past 5 days have been exhausting. 

i couldn't image battling the toilet while having a newborn.

really emotionally draining....well physically too but worth it.

i really did love this program because it suited my parenting style.
for any of you mom's that want me to forward you the 3 day
program i am more than happy to. it was a success for us and might be for you too.

{now for the pretty}
my mom and i went to the Bijou Market yesterday and i was
inspired by all the hand crafted baby items. my mom is the type
to say...."you could easily make that yourself" but the problem is that
i usually don't so it makes it worth it to just purchase it then and there.
i did get an adorable crocheted bow head band for the babes.

she said she would help me make one of the cute skirts i saw.
i couldn't pass up the opportunity to create so i said ok.
we went to the fabric store. i spent a total of $7 and bought
enough material  for two skirts and sashes for both.

one skirt down. i am planning to make a golden yellow sash to for both.
don't you think the yellow will go nicely with the blue and pink?
and i'm loving the older style patterns on fabric.

sorry for the long post.
.................
xoxo
em