Are we going to the movies???

I mentioned when we started potty training (again) a few weeks ago that Alex was having some "fears". Well, to help him overcome this said fear we had to pull out the big guns. You see, Eli was such a sweet brother that when he went and it was time for a prize from the box (I bought two of each thing) he'd just get the same thing twice in a row and give one to Alex. Really sweet but REALLY not helping the cause. SOOO instead of telling our son who was doing a nice thing to NOT SHARE (we thought that might send a mixed message ;) ) Jared said that if Alex "went" (I cannot believe I am discussing this) he would take them both to the movies. Needless to say Alex did it and they had a boys night out that night. After that night however we went right back to the "problem".

We had a talk with him (after 3 accidents) and explained that now he knows what to do and he needs to do it, etc., etc. I told him this morning that if he and Eli had accident free days Daddy and I would have to do something special for them. So again NO ACCIDENTS!! Aw yeah. The funny thing was after this major victory Eli ran in and yelled "Good job Alex, .....are we going to the movies". :)

AND now the real reason that I wrote this whole post was so I'd have an excuse to share this adorable picture of one of the times he was successful.

He was very proud!

my sweet boy

deep in thought

They won't go to kindergarten in diapers!!!

Everyone says this but I thought my sons may be the ones to do it. I can't blame them I have not consistently tried. When I did they weren't ready and then the past 4 months, well, we have been a little "busy" with bedrest, hospitalization, NICU, newborn, etc., etc., BUT because we are crazy we decided to potty train the boys last Saturday, newborn or not it had to be done. Actually, I decided. Jared has been saying "sarcastically" (although I think he was serious) when referring to potty training the boys that I needed to get on it. This led me to decide on a Friday that tomorrow was the day and that I would have Jared's help all wknd. I am so glad WE started on the weekend because there is NO way I could have kept up with Addie and dealt with the boys at the same time without his help.

We are a little over a week into it and I am saying cautiously confidently that Eli is potty trained except for nap and bed time (we aren't even trying that yet). Alex is SO close but has some poo fears. If anyone has insight into this I'd love to hear from you. :) We are so excited about this and thankful that we will no longer be buying diapers for 3. I should take this time to thank all of our diaper contributors. :) You know who you are. We SO appreciate being able to buy one less box or more.

As far as the process, we give 5 M& M's and a sticker for each successful trip to the potty and when you fill your chart you get a present from the box ($ store toys or hot wheels cars). When you go #2 you also get a present from the box. The are also thrilled to flush the potty. :) I am hoping that this continues to work for us.

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complete chaos!!

add to this equation alex's pink eye, eli's nasty double ear infection, addison's cold and jared's case of poison ivy along with a few other life stressors and you have what we are up against. Thankfully there are precious moments like these (below) thrown in on a daily basis to keep us sane. We are so thankful for each of these crazy children and try not to take any of this "chaos" for granted.

Potty Training Woes

Are we there yet???? I want to have potty trained children without having to potty train them. Is that TOO much to ask? Yeah, I know, it is. We are on day 2 and have had NO success. I put them on the potty regularly and they get up without going potty only to go on the floor. So far "potty training" in our house has consisted of "training" me to sanitize my floors 3x/day.

Not that anyone wants MY tips but I read a book called "Potty Training Boys: the easy way" (WHATEVER!) that suggest training in sessions. This way takes a bit longer but it seems less stressful to me. I am not sure this is the best approach but it is currently our approach! Despite what I originally thought I'd do I am training both of them together. Neither seems "more ready" at this point so I figured I'd just gut it out.

Doing this while dealing with morning sickness is less than thrilling but not buying diapers for twins will be an AMAZING accomplishment and our bank account will thank us. Everyone says that one day they will just get it and that is my current life boat that I cling to each time I clean pee up off of my floor.

After this accomplishment we will move on to putting the boys back in the same room. Yes, my favorite transition of putting them in separate rooms must be undone for our new arrival. I honestly think potty training will be easier than trying to get them not to party like rock stars until all hours of the night once they are roommates again.

The good news is after these two huge transitions are over the boys should be as ready for baby as we can possibly prepare them to be. Have I mentioned that I have thanked God on a regular basis that we ditched the binky months ago. I cannot imagine having to deal with that before September too! So that is a little bit of what is currently on my plate. I'm off to put some big boys undies in the washer.