Reading

I LOVE a good book!  I mean who doesn't? :)  In fact, I have really been enjoying my time over these last few weeks to read!  Some of my favorite authors are Nicholas Sparks-good books but when I try to remember the plots from some of his books, they all seem to run together:)  Jodi Picoult-I love how she takes topics that are relevant and morphs them into a very good story!  Of course I loved the Harry Potter books and then there is the Twilight series...couldn't put it down and can't wait for the last movie to come out in a couple of months (GIRLS NIGHT!!!).  I enjoyed the Hunger Games series as well!  Most recently I've read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.  The True Blood series (on HBO I think) is based on those books.  I've yet to see the series, but have been tempted to go and rent a few seasons to watch and see what I think.  Most recently....I was sucked into the Fifty Shades of Grey series!  Yes, there is sex...a lot of sex....but for those of you who have read them, there is a love story there....and I am a sucker for a good love story!  I mean, what girl doesn't dream of some handsome, very rich bachelor falling in love with her and sweeping her off her feet....ok, so maybe it doesn't exactly happen that way, but I still enjoyed the series.  In fact....I've read the whole series twice in 8 days!  When I find a good book/series, I get a little Obsessive/Compulsive about finishing it....I stay up late trying to suck in as much time as I can in the books.  I'm a fast reader, so I devour books quickly...then when I reach the end I'm worried that I read too fast and missed some important details...so then I start the journey again.  It makes Tony furious because he can't understand why I would want to read the same books over and over (oh and maybe because I totally ignore him while I read!)...but if they are good, I love getting lost in the story all over again:)  I've done this with all of the recent series that I have read (sans the Sookie Stackhouse because there were just too many of them!).  With Twilight, I had to physically remove the books from my house so that I wouldn't start on them again, I put the Hunger Games away in a cabinet so that I wouldn't seen them laying out...and now I need to do the same with the Fifty Shades series!...because I'm tempted to start them again:)  Although, I have read it a few other recent books on the iPad...so it is hard to "remove" them from my proximity:)  But I am determined not to read them again....so I went downstairs and picked up my copy of Twilight....maybe just a quick chapter before I turn in for the night:)

I'm Sure It Won't Be the Only Time

Towards the end of our summer school program, my mom brought Owen out so he could see all of the buses lined up to take the kids home.  (he loves buses, so I thought he would enjoy this)  While we were outside looking at all of the buses and getting kids loaded, one of the assistants (who knows me, but doesn't really KNOW me) asked when Owen would be getting a little brother or sister.  I quickly responded "He's not!" and then turned to say something to him.  My mom, who was standing there with us, was a little shocked by my abrupt answer and starting talking a little more to the person trying to fill the awkwardness.   It felt a little liberating to say it out loud....and didn't bother me like I thought it would....and I'm sure it won't be the only time I'm asked that question in the future......

Purging Complete!

Well, the purging is complete at our house. We had our garage sale over the weekend. I am not a huge garage saler, so I really wasn't looking forward to it. They are a lot of work, but thankfully my mom was available to come over and help me go through the several totes of baby items that I had.  I was amazed at how much stuff we had accumulated over the past 2 1/2 years! 

It was a little hard to go through the stuff, but surprisingly Tony had a harder time with it than I did. We definitely saved some of his special outfits and toys as we went through things, but we still had a ton of things to put in the sale. I also had some friends come over to pre sale on Thursday night before we started on Friday. 

We had the sale on Friday and Saturday. Friday was crazy busy! We barely had time to sit down at times. Tony's aunts and my mom came to help with the sale (one aunt and my mom put stuff in the sale also) and to help with Owen. He definitely did not like his stuff being out there, and of course any time he saw a toy he liked he wanted to get it and play with it again. They were all toys he hasn't seen in more than a year!:) both days someone finally had to take him and leave the house because he just couldn't handle being there, or rather yet it was just easier for him to be gone:) As busy as Friday was, Saturday was not! We finally started packing up about an hour before we said we were because it was SO hot and no one was coming. I still had some things left, so I bagged up the baby things and sent them to a pregnancy resource center and the rest of our household things went to Goodwill. It was all gone by the afternoon and it felt pretty good.....we are continuing to move forward and this was one of the first steps.

Potty Training Update

Well, sadly this is just another update post about potty training.  I hope there is one soon about it all being over!  So here's where we are:

Ever since we began with the potty training, we've kept Owen in pull-ups.  I didn't want to go "backwards" by going back to diapers.  We tried to take him potty very frequently and were always constantly asking him if he needed to go.  Of course, he would always say no:)  He would still always go on command when we took him.  Of course, he wasn't always keen on stopping whatever he was doing and would sometimes throw a fit.  We started putting him in time out for this...which usually only lasted a few seconds and he would get up and walk to the bathroom.  Pooping is still the most frustrating issues of it all....because he knows when he has to go and usually hides somewhere and does it when we aren't paying attention, or does it when he is laying down for his nap.  Then he walks out, says he pooped and then goes in and lays down on his floor to be changed!  So, I KNOW he knows when he has to do that!  I questioned sometimes how well he could "hold" his pee...so I tried to cut him a little slack in the peeing department.  We offered him "treats" for both peeing and pooping....and he can tell you what he is supposed to do, but just never did it!  Very frustrating at times:)

The last week or so of summer school, he was only using one pull-up a day at my mom's house.  I was feeling pretty positive about that.  I had already decided to really push the potty training after summer school was over, so the fact that he was doing well inspired me.  Of course, it was still because my mom was taking him every so often...he wasn't telling her when he had to go.

I decided to make a chart for him to put up in the bathroom.  We had tried a plain old sticker chart, but it wasn't quite motivating enough for him.  I decided to give skittles, m & m's, and time on the iPad for peeing (which is what we were already basically doing).  I created a "special basket" for pooping which contained juice boxes, trains (inspiration from a friend!!), cars, and candy.  Finally when he had dry pants all day he got to put up a sticker to earn a ride on a city bus.  Of course all these things are huge motivators for him.  

Here is a picture of the chart.  Not the best since it was taken from my cell phone.

So, yesterday was day 1....and as you can tell in the picture, he earned a sticker at the end of the day!  He was totally dry, told me he had to pee a few times, and went poop a couple of times!  Tony and I praised him all over the place last night!  Today is day 2....and it started off well.  I think he pooped 2 times before 7:00AM!  Unfortunately, he pooped again before nap and I did not insist that he keep trying for more.  So, he chose candy and ate it....but then after laying down for a few minutes he came out and said that he had pooped:(  No sticker for today and I'm trying not to be too discouraged......here's to hoping tomorrow is better!

I will update again soon......I really hope he gets this soon!  or I may have to consider barricading him in the kitchen naked all day....

St. Louis Zoo

As promised, here are some pics from our trip to the St. Louis Zoo in early June.  Owen had a GREAT time.  He is so into animals right now, so it was really fun to take him to see everything.  His two favorite animals are elephants and giraffes.  We got to see the elephants, but unfortunately the giraffes weren't out....and if you asked him, he would definitely tell you about it!  He was mad!!:)  Anyways, we had a great time, and he was tuckered out by the end of the day.  In fact, we didn't even make it through the whole zoo before he conked out!  We were able to stop and have dinner with one of my college roomies and her family on our way home, which was fun and it allowed Owen to get out and play a little before the drive home as well:)  It was a win/win for everyone!

Riding the train....this was a huge favorite of the day!

  

Watching the rhinos with daddy.

He loved watching the hippos!  We stayed at this exhibit for a long time!

Watching the elephants.  This was another exhibit we stayed at for a while:)

Feeding the sting rays.  He let daddy do the feeding (and so did I!!), but he did  pet a few:)

Petting the guinea pigs in the Children's Zoo.

Riding the carousel with mommy:)

And, he's done!  This is how he saw the last part of the zoo:)

Long Time....No Post!

Wow...it has been awhile since I have been able to blog!  It has been a very busy summer so far, but mostly the no blogging is because I took 2 summer grad classes!  What was I thinking?!?!?!  Well, needless to say, I finally have a minute to post!  I finished one class up over the weekend and am only down to one with most of my last project almost complete, so I thought I would take a minute to post.

Things are going well.  I'm working 4 1/2 days a week with class two nights a week (although this is the last week of those classes).  My summer work will be finished up next week, leaving about 2 1/2 weeks before "real" work starts again......

Owen is growing like a weed and we are enjoying every minute of it.  We took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo at the beginning of June, so when I am home one afternoon I will try to post pics of it.  He LOVED it, so I want to make sure I give the trip post justice:)  We have another small trip planned as a family at the end of this month, so we are looking forward to that. 

We've had 2 friends announce that they are expecting, so that has been exciting.  Both of them went through my maternity clothes and took a big chunk of them, one of them bought my breast pump, and both will be coming over and going through things when I have my garage sale next month.  Tony and I have totally embraced that we will only have Owen and are ready to move on into the next chapter in our lives.  Usually when we make a decision like that, it means we are ready to purge:)  I'm so glad that we are both purgers and not savers:)  Now...that doesn't mean I won't have a hard time when I go through all of his clothes and things....and I'm sure a few outfits will be saved:)  I know there will probably be times when I will wonder "what if" or wish we had another baby, but it won't do me any good to dwell on things that won't happen!

So onward to new and exciting things.....and I promise to blog more:)

Renal Scan & Kidney Update

Owen had his renal scan last Friday afternoon. After our experience with his first one, I went armed with many different toys and options to keep him entertained during the procedure. Gramma stopped by the morning of and dropped off some suckers and a Dumbo DVD (she remembered that they offered a DVD player the last time we went). When we arrived they put numbing cream on both of his arms in anticipation for the IV. He wasn't too keen on it, but we kept him busy for the half hour that we had to wait before we went back for the actual procedure. They had pediatric nurses come in and put in the IV....they were nice but not so quick with the procedure. He was pretty upset but we got Dumbo started and away we went with the procedure. He did amazingly well and Tony and I didn't have to hold him down like the last time...which made it even better! We were really thankful for Gramma bringing Dumbo....it was a lifesaver! We were able to see the test as it progressed on the screen. It was very apparent that the left kidney did not clear the dye but did respond after the Lasix was pushed. We weren't sure what that meant but were hoping that it wasn't bad:)

We saw the pediatric urologist today to hear what the test results meant. She said that it was good that the kidney responded to the Lasix because it meant that it still had its functionality, although he was still presenting with some of the other symptoms of having a blockage. She said that she really didn't want to put him through surgery since it was still working correctly at this time. She wants us to see her again in 6-months and see how things are since hopefully he will be full potty-trained by then. So, good news on the surgery front but I'm afraid it's still not off the table for the future. Again, only time will tell...