Ok, I am sooo proud of Seth.
When we first brought Seth home at 18 months old, he was already telling us when he pooped. He would say the Ethiopian word for poop, and while many kids would be happy to run around in it all day, he almost always came and told me when he was done.
Anyway, since we had no water and the stress on me was so overwhelming until last week when we sold our house, I put off potty training. And the fact that he just turned 2 in December, I wasn't in too big a hurry.
Yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and go buy a potty for him.
Bad thing about Seth, he hardly drinks, so he doesn't pee real often. Which makes it harder to catch.
This morning I sat him on the potty right in front of the TV while he watched Mickey Mouse. I repeated often for him to go potty and gave him a glass of milk, then a glass of tea.
After about 1.5 hours of sitting on the potty (not being forced, just entertained on the potty) I got tired of waiting.
So, I told him to get up and sat Ethan on it naked. Which Ethan did NOT like. Then I got a glass of warm water and put Ethan's hand in, which he did NOT like, at first, then he wanted to play in it. Still no peeing from Ethan. Then I got warm water and poured it over Ethan's privates. Which he did NOT like, at first, then he thought it was funny. Still no pee, so Ethan got to get up.
In the meantime, Seth was watching and a little jealous that Ethan was on his potty, which worked out well for me. I sat Seth back down and tried the hand in warm water with him.
Nothing.
Then I got the warm water and poured it over his privates and during the 2nd cup, he Finally peed!
We all clapped and made a big fuss,gave him a gummy bear, and it was then that it dawned on him what he was supposed to do on the potty.
I put a diaper on him and sent him to play.
About an hour and 1/2 later, I sat him on it again. This time I went for the warm water after about 10 min, but I didn't need it, he peed while I was at the sink.
Each time I put his diaper on him, I would say
"If you need to poop, don't poop in your diaper, come tell me and you can poop in the potty, ok?" And he would say "ok"
After the nap, the same thing. And he pooped a tiny bit in the potty. I couldn't believe it!
But the most impressive thing was that after telling him not to poop in his diaper over and over, this happened...
I was right inside the door with Ethan, while Aaron, Seth and the girls were outside with our telescope.
Seth comes to the door and says "poop", so I open the door to let him in.
He is crying because he HATES to come inside, especially when others are outside.
But I have him sit on the potty anyway. For about 10 min. And when Aaron comes in, he checks, and that awesome kid had pooped in his potty.
So here are the stats:
Day 1 potty training
Peeing 5 times in potty
Pooping 2 times in potty
1 diaper wet during waking hours
INCREDIBLE
I can only hope it continues.
Next stop China
Next Stop China!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
We did it! Our house is no longer ours!
Well, we officially sold our house at 3:30 pm today. Whew!
I already feel lighter, although I don't think it has sunk in yet. I feel good because I am making myself choose to look forward.
We got there on time and had to sit in the lobby with our realtor and the buyers for about 15 min. ..Chatting...Awkward.
Finally, they took us back with our realtor. And we saw the check we were getting... What is ours to keep... Everything has been paid for...
And it was $3000 more than we guessed we would get! That made the day even sweeter.
Signed papers, then had to sit in the lobby and wait for the buyers to sign their papers and there you have it.
3-4 weeks ago, we were at the bottom of our savings.
I was getting complaints about how I was working too much by the family.
So I did a budget and showed Aaron. With our savings gone, living in this new rental and paying for our old house, plus all of our adoption bills was very hard.
I figured up that I would have to work 76 hours a month just to come out even. That is a lot of hours for someone who is homeschooling, toting to basketball, and trying to fit work in on every Saturday (missing bball games) and working days Mom was off and getting school in.
I admit, I was at the end of my rope. I was SOOO overwhelmed knowing how many hours I had to fit in until our taxes came back. Hopefully in March, but you never know.
After the budget talk, no one was allowed to complain about me working too much.
Then about 3 weeks ago, Aaron, in desparation, blurts out "I just wish someone would offer us $$$$$$$$$$ cash for the house"
Then about 2 weeks ago, someone offered us the exact amount Aaron blurted out, in CASH!!
And we took it.
And the irony in all of this....
The main reason for selling the house was the lack of water and our broken well.
We go through a year of trickling water. Then 4 months of no water whatsoever, then 2 months of extra bills in a rental, and who calls me on Monday????
The contractor that is planning to start digging the city water line. Asking if he could park his equipment on our property at night..
To top that off, after closing today, we drove up to the house to check the mail and what do we see parked at a neighbors? A backhoe and plumbing pipes. Ready to bring city water to our dream house!
And I'm truly laughing about this because even though it could be terribly irritating and maddening that the day we sell our dream home because we have no water, they start to dig for city water, I know that God wanted us out of that house. And that is good enough for me.
Why? I am not sure yet. But I would rather be in His will than in that house out of His will.
And in my prayers and insomnia last night, I also realized another thing about the last year. All this time I have been praying that God fix our well or give us money to fix it or even better, bring city water. Now I firmly believe that God silted our well in. And that is ok too.
And the timing of the digging of city water. Out of the almost 4 years we lived there waiting for city water, it comes the day we sell. That is no coincidence. Because Aaron and I toyed with the thought of taking the house off the market once they started digging for water.
Back this summer we first put the house on the market because I realized that it was very likely coming between us and what God wanted for us.
Aaron casually said one day "If we had city water, I don't care how many kids we adopt"
That statement coming from Aaron was a miracle in itself.
And it hit me. I was clinging to something that very likely would keep a child from having a home. And that is what made me agree to sell.
So we will see what God has in store for us.
I already feel lighter, although I don't think it has sunk in yet. I feel good because I am making myself choose to look forward.
We got there on time and had to sit in the lobby with our realtor and the buyers for about 15 min. ..Chatting...Awkward.
Finally, they took us back with our realtor. And we saw the check we were getting... What is ours to keep... Everything has been paid for...
And it was $3000 more than we guessed we would get! That made the day even sweeter.
Signed papers, then had to sit in the lobby and wait for the buyers to sign their papers and there you have it.
3-4 weeks ago, we were at the bottom of our savings.
I was getting complaints about how I was working too much by the family.
So I did a budget and showed Aaron. With our savings gone, living in this new rental and paying for our old house, plus all of our adoption bills was very hard.
I figured up that I would have to work 76 hours a month just to come out even. That is a lot of hours for someone who is homeschooling, toting to basketball, and trying to fit work in on every Saturday (missing bball games) and working days Mom was off and getting school in.
I admit, I was at the end of my rope. I was SOOO overwhelmed knowing how many hours I had to fit in until our taxes came back. Hopefully in March, but you never know.
After the budget talk, no one was allowed to complain about me working too much.
Then about 3 weeks ago, Aaron, in desparation, blurts out "I just wish someone would offer us $$$$$$$$$$ cash for the house"
Then about 2 weeks ago, someone offered us the exact amount Aaron blurted out, in CASH!!
And we took it.
And the irony in all of this....
The main reason for selling the house was the lack of water and our broken well.
We go through a year of trickling water. Then 4 months of no water whatsoever, then 2 months of extra bills in a rental, and who calls me on Monday????
The contractor that is planning to start digging the city water line. Asking if he could park his equipment on our property at night..
To top that off, after closing today, we drove up to the house to check the mail and what do we see parked at a neighbors? A backhoe and plumbing pipes. Ready to bring city water to our dream house!
And I'm truly laughing about this because even though it could be terribly irritating and maddening that the day we sell our dream home because we have no water, they start to dig for city water, I know that God wanted us out of that house. And that is good enough for me.
Why? I am not sure yet. But I would rather be in His will than in that house out of His will.
And in my prayers and insomnia last night, I also realized another thing about the last year. All this time I have been praying that God fix our well or give us money to fix it or even better, bring city water. Now I firmly believe that God silted our well in. And that is ok too.
And the timing of the digging of city water. Out of the almost 4 years we lived there waiting for city water, it comes the day we sell. That is no coincidence. Because Aaron and I toyed with the thought of taking the house off the market once they started digging for water.
Back this summer we first put the house on the market because I realized that it was very likely coming between us and what God wanted for us.
Aaron casually said one day "If we had city water, I don't care how many kids we adopt"
That statement coming from Aaron was a miracle in itself.
And it hit me. I was clinging to something that very likely would keep a child from having a home. And that is what made me agree to sell.
So we will see what God has in store for us.
Don't look back
So much stress lately!!!!
However, this afternoon, much of that stress will be lifted.
At 3:30pm, we sell our beloved house and land. Lord willing.
More details about that after closing on how God worked this out.
This is definately bitter/sweet
I couldn't go to sleep last night until almost 1am. Thinking, praying, stressing, looking back, etc.
I keep having to remind myself to take a deep breath.
Finally, after wrestling with prayer between hope and tears, God reminded me of Lot's wife. He had something better for her. But she looked back and it killed her. I am not saying that God was threatening me at all.
I just think God was telling me to look forward, quit dwelling on what we will miss, get excited about what He has in store for us.
So, at least until after closing, I am looking forward.
Because if I dwell on the past and the memories there and our hopes for that place while we close, I fear I will either break down crying, have a nervous breakdown, or spend half the time in the bathroom. Stress does that to me. Somehow my nerves are directly linked to my stomach and intestines!
But it was so funny after deciding not to look back and dwell on the past, I had the weirdest dreams about the past. And I actually took a road trip in my dreams. I drove the kids in the van to SC where we used to live and see all of our old friends. Stopped by our old church. Then once I was there, our van turned into our farm tractor with a trailer and I wondered how in the world I was going to drive all the way back to AL with 5 kids using a tractor and how incredibly long that trip was going to take.
I woke up this morning when Aaron did and when I went back to sleep, I had another dream about the past. I ran into a good friend from my teenage years who I used to have a major crush on. I haven't seen him in probably 15 years, so I went and said hi to be nice. He said "wow, you are chunky" I said, no, I am fat and you are a jerk that the first thing you say to an old friend is how fat they are. HA!
And God just used that to remind me. Sometimes there are things that you want really, really bad. But God doesn't let you have them. And when you look back and realize the AWESOME thing God gave you , when if you had your way you would have settled for mediocre or worse, you become much more willing to wait and see what God has in store.
So that is where I am at this moment in time. We'll see where I am 20 min. from now.
However, this afternoon, much of that stress will be lifted.
At 3:30pm, we sell our beloved house and land. Lord willing.
More details about that after closing on how God worked this out.
This is definately bitter/sweet
I couldn't go to sleep last night until almost 1am. Thinking, praying, stressing, looking back, etc.
I keep having to remind myself to take a deep breath.
Finally, after wrestling with prayer between hope and tears, God reminded me of Lot's wife. He had something better for her. But she looked back and it killed her. I am not saying that God was threatening me at all.
I just think God was telling me to look forward, quit dwelling on what we will miss, get excited about what He has in store for us.
So, at least until after closing, I am looking forward.
Because if I dwell on the past and the memories there and our hopes for that place while we close, I fear I will either break down crying, have a nervous breakdown, or spend half the time in the bathroom. Stress does that to me. Somehow my nerves are directly linked to my stomach and intestines!
But it was so funny after deciding not to look back and dwell on the past, I had the weirdest dreams about the past. And I actually took a road trip in my dreams. I drove the kids in the van to SC where we used to live and see all of our old friends. Stopped by our old church. Then once I was there, our van turned into our farm tractor with a trailer and I wondered how in the world I was going to drive all the way back to AL with 5 kids using a tractor and how incredibly long that trip was going to take.
I woke up this morning when Aaron did and when I went back to sleep, I had another dream about the past. I ran into a good friend from my teenage years who I used to have a major crush on. I haven't seen him in probably 15 years, so I went and said hi to be nice. He said "wow, you are chunky" I said, no, I am fat and you are a jerk that the first thing you say to an old friend is how fat they are. HA!
And God just used that to remind me. Sometimes there are things that you want really, really bad. But God doesn't let you have them. And when you look back and realize the AWESOME thing God gave you , when if you had your way you would have settled for mediocre or worse, you become much more willing to wait and see what God has in store.
So that is where I am at this moment in time. We'll see where I am 20 min. from now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)