Monday Moments - A good day!

I, like most women, have a tough first trimester of pregnancy. At this point during my first pregnancy, I was completely freaking out! Between the nausea, the indescribable daily exhaustion and the countless other side effects that no one ever warns you about, I wondered if having a baby was the biggest mistake of my life. How in the world would I function with a baby when I couldn't even get myself dressed for the day? Fortunately this time around I'm armed with the knowledge that this "phase", this "I think I want to die just climbing the stairs" feeling...well...it passes and somewhere around 16 weeks, I start to feel normal again. Normal with a huge belly that is. I get my energy back, accompanied by back pain, leg pain, and little sleep...but I have more energy. Of course this only lasts until week 30 or 32 and that's when the real fun begins...swelling, no sleep, constant pain, itching, and eventually liver and kidney failer....oh...what have I done to myself!!! Suddenly it's all coming back to me.

They say you forget...that's why you do it again...you forget. But I haven't forgotten. I remember as plain as day. And quite honestly, I'm a little terrified.

But there's good news...I have this beautiful, sweet, lovable little face, with big brown eyes staring at me, as I type. She reminds me daily why this is worth it. Why me and millions of women everywhere do this over and over again. Why we transform our lives and figures for the thankless, miraculous title of "Mom"!

Today I'm 9 weeks pregnant, and I spent all morning laying on the couch feeling like I wanted to throw up. My sweet baby girl laid next to me watching Sesame Street. Finally at about 11:30 I got up and got us dressed for the day. I even managed to make my bed and clean up from Breakfast. I've now made lunch for little "R" and she's ready for a nap. Some people may say I haven't accomplished much today, but this has actually been a good day.

Thanks Panda Express..

Although I love to cook and I have an excellent recipe for my own orange sauce, like most moms out there my life is very busy. I have nights that I don't have time or just don't feel like cooking. That's why I was so excited to see that Panda Express has started selling their famous orange sauce in a bottle. Even better; it's at Costco for a screaming deal. It also has no MSG, no high fructose corn syrup and it's fairly low in calories. Only 35 calories per tablespoon.

So on a busy night I can quickly stir fry some chicken and veggies, drizzle a little sauce, serve over rice, and dinner is done. Not to mention its much healthier than the deep fried chicken at Panda Express.

Monday Moments - Training Day...

I don't know what's gotten into me today, maybe I'm crazy, or maybe it's lack of sleep. But I was up late last night catching up with some of my friends blogs. I was shocked to find out that my friend Natasha started potty training her little guy at only 9 months old. It intrigued me. I have a couple other friends that also started potty training their children at 6-12 months old. Apparently it really works. They have all had great success. So I started researching information and reading all kinds of things online; reasons, methods, and techniques. That brings me to today. I decided I'm going to go for it. What's the worst that can happen?

So first thing this morning when little "R" started making her potty face, I went and put her on the toilet. She actually went to the bathroom. I was shocked. But she didn't like sitting on the big grown-up toilet seat. I think it scared her. So we took a little field trip to Babies-R-Us and purchased her first potty chair.

Tah..dah...



The method and information my friend has used is from the book "Diaper Free Before 3: The Healthier Way to Toilet Train and Help Your Child Out of Diapers Sooner", by Jill M. Lekovic, M.D.

The basic method is:

1. Familiarize the child with the potty by building potty trips into the routine. Example: When child wakes up, take a trip to the potty. Just before child goes down for a nap, head to the potty. After a meal, go to the potty. Before leaving home on a trip, go to the potty. At first, there may be only one trip per day depending on child's willingness to sit on the potty.

2. Child begins to use potty. It may take a week or two before the child realized what the potty is for and how to use it.

3. Child wears cotton training pants for increasing amounts of time. The author says that the the more you use cotton underwear, the faster the child will potty train, since they don't like the feel of wetting themselves without it being whisked away by diapers.

4. Child can potty train as quickly as a month or it may take a few months depending on how willing and ready the child is.

There's a lot more information I've been reading, but that's the basics of this particular method.

I must say, I'm a little torn, only because I've always subscribed to the "Cold Turkey" potty training method. That was the method my sister used with all her kids and each of her children were potty trained in less than a week. That method is basically waiting until the child is about 18 months to 2 years and showing total interest in potty training. You block out a week of your life; no where to go or be. You make a big deal out of buying new underwear or panties and just go cold turkey into them. You may have several accidents, but they learn quickly.

However, everything I've read says that the "Cold Turkey" method doesn't work at this young of an age. Little "R" can't fully communicate yet and still doesn't understand what going potty is all about. Basically this would just be introducing her to the idea and seeing what she thinks. If it works, and it has for my friends, she could easily be potty trained in a couple months. Think of the money we could save on diapers! I like that thought!

Ok, so after this marathon of a post. I need the advise from all experienced mom's out there. What do you think?? What's worked for you? I really am interested in your feedback.