Training

Let me be clear and state that I normally do not compare my child with the pet dog, but in this case I have thought about it quite a bit. Potty training has been a dream of mine since the beginning of summer, but Paige never really showed much interest, and I didn't want to push it. Plus, it seemed just easier to change the diaper. Paige will be in Sunbeams come January, and I also have her on a preschool waiting list. Both of these things require her to be outta diapers. I thought about waiting a bit longer, but I wanted to give myself a bit of a cushion. She seemed to be a bit more ready as she had been announcing to me, strangers, and even President and Sister Clark at the airport that she was peeing and wanted me to look. After a pep talk from some other mothers, I decided to take the big plunge. I am sorry you have to read about this, but literally this has consumed my life for two weeks.

Roxy, our golden retriever is the sweetest dog ever, but no genius. However, she was potty trained in one day. She literally had one accident in our first house and felt so bad about it and feared me so much that it never happened again. Roxy has a very submissive personality. She is now no longer allowed in the house, but I can leave her in the garage for long periods of time and know she will cross paws if she must. Paige can't stand a mess. She cleans crumbs at our house, at restaurants, wherever they might be. She will not finish eating if she feels her hands are too messy. I thought this aversion to messes would make potty training a cinch. Apparently she can't stand a smidge of peanut butter on her fingers, but doesn't mind filling her shoes with pee. Paige is so stubborn and doesn't have a healthy respect or fear of me....AT ALL. She is fairly certain she is the boss, and sometimes I am fairly certain she is too! After the first two days I was ready to throw in the towel. I wasn't able to leave the house, she didn't care about her chart, or stickers, or treats, or threats, or bribes, or cool new big girl panties she picked out herself, or anything. Finally on day three I let her set the "potty timer" on my phone, which I guess is more exciting than any of these other things. Day three and four were seriously successful, especially compared to where we had been. I was a little floored to be honest with you. Of course the stickers and treats have been an important part of the process. I fear her teeth will not survive potty training.

Saturday we went for a horse ride, and I put her in a pull-up because, well riding buddy I wasn't thrilled with the thought of an accident. Sunday was church and she couldn't be trusted to go to nursery without a pull-up. That seemed to have set us back. The last two days we have had a bit of a regression. Hoping we get back on track. But this begs the question, why was the dog so easy?! Paige's brain is far superior and she is one smart cookie. Why is this so hard? And really I still don't know if I see the day when she can be trusted to 1. Tell me she needs to go and 2. Go out to any public place without a pull-up. Sigh. The road seems long! But we have come a LONG way. Before last week, we had 6 stickers on this chart. We have reached the end and started a new line that already has a few stickers on it. She is doing pretty good!

 

Other than spending all my time in a bathroom, or watching her like a hawk, I did participate in a stake activity. It was a marathon course but done as a team relay. I have not been running. I do other cardio, but my body has hated running lately. I forced myself to run 3 or 4 times and then decided that was good enough. I play soccer weekly and run there so that counts right? There had been a bit of drama over this particular stake activity and it was fairly ridiculous. I, myself, had a bad attitude which is also fairly ridiculous. My friend Kristy was our ward coordinator and she did so much work. I was supposed to be the team captain and she pretty much did all the work, and went above and beyond by ordering all our shirts and made us all race packets. If I had truly been the team captain, my team would have gotten a big ole text about where they needed to meet:) In the end, this event ended up being a blast. It was really fun and the drama was soon forgotten. I actually felt pretty good while running and enjoyed the run for the first time in a long time. I think I miss the race experience a bit. Maybe someday my knee and foot will allow for long distance running again.

 

 

This picture is of both teams from our ward. We were the Jello Jigglers and most of our team is not pictured. They started the race for us and we got all the glory for finishing it out. Katie and Lisa hung onto that Finish sign for a few hours to make sure it didn't blow away. Fortunately, they didn't either! I was worried about Katie there a few times!

 

 

As for other news, I am debating on whether or not to get an MRI on this stupid wrist of mine. It still bugs me daily. Not enough to be super painful, just enough to be annoying and persistent. I can curl light weights, but stapling papers or swatting flies hurts. It just seems fickle. The bones have healed up fabulously, but there maybe some soft tissue injury. I hate the "maybe." I like the obvious injury where the bone is sticking out and they know right away why it hurts. My biggest fear is that they do the MRI and see nothing. So it just bugs for no reason and I am a huge wuss for complaining or being annoyed by it. Then I just feel stupid for wasting time and money and whining about it. Kind of on the fence as whether to do the MRI or not. The doctor seems to think I shouldn't have any discomfort this far out from injury, and while it doesn't hurt necessarily, there is something not normal and it isn't what it used to be. If I only knew.....maybe I should just really hurt it so it's definite! And just in case my looming 30th birthday wasn't depressing enough, it looks like I might get braces for yet a third time. My metabolism is dying, my body is slowing down and falling apart, wrinkles are appearing, hair grows in awesome places, and I get to relive the awkward teenage years with braces, zits, and an overbite. Fabulous. I cried in the car after the orthodontist appointment and because I am over 19, insurance will not cover this. I have briefly considered just doing the jaw surgery because it may be paid by insurance, but I read a blog about a girl who had her jaw wired for 4 weeks and was excited about eating real food again. That sounds fairly inconvenient. I am looking forward to a second opinion on the matter next month. Between the wrist and the mouth we shall see how far our flex spending account can flex!

 

All my leads and adoption possibilities have all officially died. I guess it feels good to be off the roller coaster as we had some heart wrenching disappointment, but it stinks to feel like we are back to square one and playing the waiting game. I see no glimmer of light on the horizon either. I felt like a month ago there were options and they certainly are no longer viable. Boo. Guess that gives me lots more time to potty train and enjoy the one on one time I have with this special little girl of mine. I sure love her even if I have to get down and dirty with the laundry!

 

 



 

 

 

Recovery

I am SO behind on housework, but I am also a little behind on blogging and I have way more ambition to type than clean right now. It's a rainy day, so plenty of time to do all things indoors right?! The last two weeks have been an absolute blur. We helped my brother move over Labor Day (yay for having him closer!), we had one day to do laundry and then flew out early last Wednesday for a few days in California. Paige and I were pretty excited about seeing Mom and Dad, don't know how excited Mark was, his trip was mostly work.

 

 

It was only 5 in the morning, but this little bug was really excited to ride the plane. As much as it stinks to now have to buy a full priced ticket for this kiddo, it was rather enjoyable having everyone in their own seat. Paige did so great traveling. She really loved the plane ride.

 

 

 

Mark had meeting at a hospital right after we landed, so Paige and I tagged along and waited in the lobby for an hour. That was quite the experience. We were at a huge children's and maternity hospital in downtown LA. Note to others, when pining for a baby, don't camp out in the mother baby unit. Not to mention I had to pull out some serious tricks to entertain Paige in a hospital lobby for an hour. It did make for good people watching. LA is a different world than ours! We finally got to Mom and Dad's and waited a while before they got done with their meetings. Paige was so happy to see them and gave them the biggest hugs ever. She then wasted no time bossing them around. Suits and skirts are of no consequence, you are sitting on the grass and playing!

 

Mark aged a year while we there, and we gave him a party worthy of any 80 year old. Birthdays seem to go down the crapper each year you age. They used to be fun! Paige and I did pound out a cake, and we went to a delicious Mediterranean restaurant where Paige had a peanut butter sandwich. The rest of us were more daring and had some fabulous food.

 

There was a pretty impressive mall nearby, and we had a bit of extra time in between meetings on Friday, so we decided these dollar rides would have to substitute for Disneyland. Paige was pretty happy and Mark and I saved about 200 bucks. Let me tell ya, I like hot weather, but it was seriously HOT down there. Like 105 degrees with a bit of humidity hot. One day while everyone was in a meeting except for us, Paige and I tried to hit up the park. No one was there but us, which should have been a sign. The toys were blistering hot. Paige wanted to swing and would have for hours, but I was melting. The swings were on a rubber pad that acted as an oven. I was roasting. While talking to my little brother on the phone, I noticed sweat dripping off my elbow. We then decided to find a pool, but they were all closed for Fall. Really!? I am not sure how Dad is able to rock the full suit all the time. Paige insisted he climb into this small train car with her. I am sure his suit was worse for wear.

 

This was a tiny little carousel, but it was indoors so it quickly became a fan favorite.

 

On Friday night, Mom and Dad watched Paige while Mark and I went to an Angels game. It was my first Major League game and it was a lot of fun. My favorite part was not having to wear jackets once the sun went down. It was still plenty warm to rock a t-shirt and sandals, even at 10 pm. I didn't eat all day anticipating the ginormous hot dog Mark promised me. It was delicious, but I felt pretty disgusting enjoying the beast. I could feel my arteries closing and my life being shortened by ten years. It was good though, so I suppose it was worth it.

 

Can't leave without a terrible selfie of our only actual date in months. I am looking old and tired, and sigh, I am becoming old and tired. I think what little make up I had on earlier melted off my face.

 

 

Loved the atmosphere and I enjoyed seeing a professional sporting event, but it didn't change the fact that baseball is baseball. A game much more enjoyable when playing. It is SLOW. I think I will stick with watching football. There were a bunch of little kids at the park, like kids Paige's age. I can't think of anything worse than taking Paige to a game that is hours longer than church and trying to keep her entertained, and buying her an 80 dollar ticket to do it! Maybe when she is five she can come.

 

 

We spent a lot of time just doing this. Paige loves my mom and dad. She often told Mark and I to leave her alone and go away. She wanted to spend all her time with Boppa and Mamma. Can't say I blame her. My parents are doing great and working hard---and I mean hard! I honestly don't know how they do it. I was tired just watching them. So much is asked of them. I came home feeling rather guilty I find Visiting Teaching and other simple things I am asked to do so inconvenient. I am asked to do so little, and I often don't do it as willingly as I should. My parents are a good example to me and to their grandchildren. They are truly sacrificing their time, talents, and all that they have to serve other people. They serve with a willing heart and they give it their all.

 

Paige was off schedule and we did more playing than sleeping. She crashed on the way to the airport and could have slept through an earthquake. It was really hard to say goodbye. I miss having my parents close. I loved seeing them interact with Paige again. Things picked up right where they left off. Three years seems like an awfully long time still!

 

 

The day after we got back, a good neighbor came over and taught me to can peaches. This was a big deal for me. I am not very self reliant and am overwhelmed even thinking about all the things I don't know. Food storage and canning is so daunting to me. I am amazed at how much others know and the stock pile they create for themselves. Earlier this year, I mentioned to Susan, an amazing gardener and canner, that I wanted to help her and see how it was done. She instead offered to come help me. She was so sweet and even picked up the peaches for me since I was out of town when the shipment came in. Susan brought some supplies and her knowledge and spent the morning teaching me how to do it. It really wasn't that hard, just time consuming and a bit messy, but I felt a bit accomplished as I stared at the finished product. I still don't think I am going to cross the realm into super canner, and I will probably still buy most of my canned goods, but I feel good knowing I at least know the process and can do it!

 

 

That pretty much sums up the last two weeks and now I get to go clean two weeks worth of bathrooms and floors. Enthusiasm is waning. Still feels like we need a bit of recovery time and some extra sleep. It will feel good to get back into our boring old routine again. It's boring, but Paige and I like it! Speaking of recovery, the BYU football team seemed to make the most of their week and Mark and I were pretty excited to watch them stomp Texas. The season has hope yet!