Someday He'll Read This Blog And Never Speak To Me Again

Two weeks ago my 3-year-old suddenly decided he wanted to be potty-trained.  He found some underwear and used the toilet often, not having an accident for the entire day.  He clearly understood the principles involved in this enterprise.  The next morning however, it all fell apart.  We had been dubious about letting him use underwear at bedtime, but he staunchly refused to be put back in diapers, repeating over and over that he was a big boy now.  In the morning his underwear and bed were wet.  He was embarrassed and confused at the trick his body was playing on him.  He refused to talk to us for the first hour of the day.  He wouldn’t be put back in diapers, nor listen to his parents’ pleas to use the toilet when the need was obvious.  In fact, it suddenly seemed that the very act of excitedly telling him it was time to use the potty like a big boy caused him to immediately pee on the floor. 

Everything was really falling apart.  The week was spent threatening, pleading, bribing (unfortunately that backfired and he wanted the treats without the try on the potty- causing major tantrums), picking up a thrashing child off the floor and washing him off by force, and cleaning up unsavory messes.  I might note that most of this was done by my husband, as I was not capable of catching him while on crutches.  As the time for my husband to return to work approached, he decided he was done with the whole ridiculous process and put him back in diapers (which he promptly took off as soon as Daddy left the house).  In a last-ditch effort (and thanks to the advice of a brother-in-law) he purchased pull-ups (and more treats).  We told our son they were special underwear just for him, not really expecting it to work, and that the glow-in-the-dark ones were for night.  He was so excited!  And, for that, so were we!

He still gets upset and throws the occasional tantrum, usually when he has to change out of a wet pull-up (denial?), but for the most part he is potty-training himself.  I have had no accidents to clean up, and don’t even have to remind him to use the toilet.  Long live pull-ups!

In other news, my baby has a bad tummy bug, and hasn’t kept much down since about 3 a.m., so there are still plenty of a different kind of mess to clean up.  Poor baby.   And he only wants Daddy (which has been pretty normal since I returned from my trip with a broken leg anyway).  We are praying that this bug moves through him quickly, and also that it doesn’t hit every person in the family.  Feel free to join in :).

Last week I had a physical therapy appointment.  My therapist put electrodes all over my leg and shocked me for 40 minutes.  Ouch.  But really, nothing my mom hadn’t done while we were growing up, haha.  I had to call her and tell her about the huge machine the therapist had instead of wires and copper pennies and whatever other stuff she and grandma used in their homemade versions.  I told her I’d consider getting her one for Christmas to add to her arsenal :).

Today my therapy appointment was a group appointment for people with leg problems, and wasn’t really geared for someone who can’t walk.  So I just did everything one-legged.  One-legged squats, yoga poses, leg raises, and stretches.  20 minutes after class the one leg that I thought of as my good leg was useless.  Lesson learned.  Go slower.  Don’t try to be a hero.

It’s getting better though.  Easier to straighten, easier to bend, not very painful, and I can put a little weight on it. 

Proud wife moment:  On finding out that I didn’t have carrots for my vegetable soup I turned dinner into vegetable-egg drop soup on a whim.  My husband likes egg drop soup ever so much better than vegetable soup and I’ve never made it for him.  This was all accomplished while standing on one leg and making children bring me various ingredients.  I was just grateful he was holding the child who was likely to project fluids (mostly) at any moment.

Well, on the bright side, I'm still alive.

I wrote this in list form because it’s all a little overwhelming, and lists are therapeutic.  More so when I get to check things off.

1.       1. I have a tibia evulsion fracture (not what they said in the ER), and some damaged muscles.  I was ice skating and fell.

2.       2. The ACL fractured the bone and is currently unattached, floating around in space, with a small piece of   bone on the end.

3.       3. I don’t like surgery.  I don’t want to do surgery unless it’s absolutely necessary.  The doctors said it’s just fine and poses no risk to try to let it heal naturally.

4.      4. My physical therapist says a knee is either a “coper” or not a coper.  A “coper” will develop muscle around the knee to compensate for the missing ACL.  He named a couple of NBA player names that I’m sure everyone but me recognizes, and said that they went on to play professionally without an ACL.  That was encouraging.  I decided (God-willing) that my knee is definitely a “coper.”

5.       5. Physical therapy is hard and frustrating.  The things he tells me to do seem ridiculously easy, yet my muscles will not obey me and move when I tell them to.  I feel like some of them (muscles) are not even there (go figure).  There are six exercises I’m supposed to do once an hour.  The six exercises take me about 20 minutes to go through.  I think I’m going to have to work up to this.

6.       6. I’m very blessed.  Ladies from church have helped so much- cleaning, cooking, and caring.  My husband is awesome (even if I am upset about my messy house).  He loves spending time with his kids, cooking, and doesn’t mind looking after his invalid wife.

7.       7. I can now shower, get dressed, and possibly put my shoes on by myself (note to self: buy shoes with Velcro instead of shoelaces).  I can sweep the whole living room from a sitting position on the couches, and folding laundry is a breeze.  However, it is dangerous to try to carry plates, pieces of trash, piles of laundry, or a phone while operating crutches.  Also, those trash cans you open by stepping on them- it’s a trap; it looks easy, but doesn’t work the way you’d think it would.

8.       8. All in all, all is well- or will be.  I will get better, hopefully sooner rather than later.  My kids are safe and healthy; their guardian angels work overtime.  My husband is superman.  Priesthood blessings have made all the difference to me, and I’m very happy to have the Gospel in my life.  It makes everything better.

Favorite People

My favorite people are people who have influenced me deeply, people who love me, people I want to emulate.

Today I would like to share about one of my favorite people, my mother-in-law, whom I call mom. :)  My mother-in-law has taught me a lot of things.  She has taught me about the value of appreciation- and that a little of it goes a long way.  I have observed her consistently writing notes of appreciation, usually with her own little touches—stickers, homemade cards out of pictures, homemade envelopes.  Even when she’s super busy, she still thinks of others!  When I call and say, “Whatcha doin’?” it turns out she is often baking something for someone, or making something for someone, or thinking of someone.  Really, the thank-you cards I write, the gifts I give, the few times I do happen to remember birthdays, and the letters I answer can very possibly be traced back to this lady!

Mom loves her husband, and shows him she loves him.  This is another thing I’m practicing--demonstrating love.  She cooks food he likes, she tells him how much she loves him, she hugs him, and she tells others what a wonderful man he is!  I guess I should start figuring out what food my husband likes huh!

Mom loves the gospel.  She really loves the gospel.  She loves to study the gospel, is always willing to have a discussion about principles and insights, and can frequently be seen sitting at the kitchen table studying the scriptures.  She is excited about family history.  She has been an inspiration to me, and a huge motivation!  Seeing someone you respect and love spend their precious time immersed in the gospel reemphasizes its importance.  If that is what they are concerned with, shouldn’t I be a little more involved in this as well? I think.    

Mom cares about people.  She says she doesn’t, but it shows in her actions.  She tries to please others, or at the very least to be conscious of what she says and make sure it’s considerate.  She notices things I never would…but I’m starting to now after associating with her for a while!!  Last but not least, she is fun.  She’s fun to be around, fun to talk to, fun to go shopping with, fun to do anything with.  

These are really just a few of the things I love about my mother-in-law, or that she's teaching me.  I am one of the luckiest girls in the world to have her in my life and be able to call her family :).

Happy Birthday to My Baby :)

My baby is a year old today.  It still amazes me, how much they grow and learn in just a year. 

He has been practicing his walking for several months, and can practically outrun his mom by now :).  Anytime someone leaves the screen door open (which is often around here), he tries to make his escape. 

He brings me books to read to him, which always makes me smile. 

He loves to be tickled, and he likes to play the game where he runs away from me and I chase him and either pretend to get him or tickle him, over and over. 

He has to be sung to sleep, but he usually goes to sleep in 5-10 minutes. 

Lorenzo now refuses to eat baby food.  He only wants what everyone else is eating.

In December, for his father's birthday, we discovered that he adores strawberry shortcake, so that will be his birthday cake as well.

Being outside is his favorite, followed by water (showers, pools, the sink, the ocean, whatever).

He also plays peekaboo anytime he hears a word that sounds even close to "hide," and he plays pattycake.  Sometimes clapping your hands is just more fun though, and you don't even need pattycake.  He claps for people when he's happy.

He doesn't really say much, except "hi."  He has that down, and he waves.  Recently he has started saying "bye" as well.  He knows who you are talking about when you say Mom, Dad, brother, and a few other names. 

He climbs the stairs anytime he gets the chance.  He's pretty good at it too.  And he has learned to turn around to come back down!

Still doesn't sleep through the night, but we are getting close.  It's okay; they aren't babies for very long :(. 

I love my Lorenzo.  I love to be with him every day.  I love watching him learn new things.  I love that he loves me.  Happy birthday sweet baby!

A Difficult Transition

I just threw away a coloring page from Olie's primary class, with his handwriting printed across the top.  "This is Not My Class."  In addition, his teacher told me he folded the chairs up and used them as stilts, even after asked to stop, and when he went to the restroom she could hear him screaming from the classroom.  He had a hard time with the class below him (with only two kids) being combined with his, and was convinced he was supposed to be in the senior primary with the big kids.  It was just one of those days...for a lot of people.  Shawn stayed home with sick kids, we had two teachers not show up, one unexpectedly released, and one who was called just today and had to jump right in and teach.  I'm sure she appreciated that.  But, the day is done, and everyone lived through it.  Olie wrote a letter of apology to take with him next week.  I "completed" (not a whole 24 hours) my first day of fasting in literally years, having been pregnant or nursing for, well, years. 

I have discovered that the hardest thing about being sick (second to getting out of bed in the morning) is not being able to sing.  My voice is almost completely gone, and I didn't realize how much I sing in a day.  It's really stopped me in my tracks.  It's nice to appreciate being able to sing though, knowing this is a very temporary condition.  I played the piano today instead of singing, not that my babies were okay with that in any way.

I guess I should go get a late start on New Year's goals.  We stayed up playing a game, were going to go to bed early, but the baby woke up (go fireworks!) so we watched part of my favorite movie, Bachelor Mother, until he went back to sleep.  Demetri had a gymnastics meet this weekend, and took 3rd in his level, but his coach was not very happy with how he did.  So we have some work to do over the next couple of months.  I think I'm vacillating between making new goals or survival right now :).

Dear Mrs. Skaggs: Signed, Un-Frozen in Hawaii

This (http://wellbehavedmormonwoman.blogspot.com/2014/02/movie-frozen-gay-homosexual-agenda.html) was a most interesting blog post.  Do I agree with her findings?  I don’t know.  I never thought of it that way.  In my opinion, it is a moot point, because my husband and I disliked the movie so vehemently that it is never making its way into our home anyway, and the songs are not allowed to be sung, listened to, or played on the piano. 

Allow me to explain my interest in the above blog post.  Woman voices her view on a hit movie.  Woman is vilified and demonized in almost 2000 comments that consisted of people from 4 groups. 

I’m not treating EVERY category, as there were a few odd-ball ones that stand alone, such as the lady who was upset that inter-racial couples can get married in the temple now, and a few who just wanted to rant against Mormonism/Christian or religion in general.

So, basically, there are Mormons who saw the gay allegory and appreciated her input, Mormons who thought she read way too much into a child’s movie (didn’t see it), and Mormons who saw the gay allegory but didn’t appreciate her pro-traditional marriage stance.  Then there were the people of an undefined religious status or clearly not Mormon who didn’t see the gay allegory and appreciated her input(wait, were there any of those?), those who didn’t see the possible allegory and thought she needed to get a life (a different life than her current one apparently) , and those who saw the gay allegory but didn’t appreciate her pro-traditional marriage stance. 

It is the categories of people who make this post hilarious.  Most of the commenters were absolutely sure of themselves, the majority were not only unsympathetic but crude and (what’s the word for people who attack other people’s character because they disagree with their right to a different opinion?).  It’s one of those lose-lose situations for her.

“You see pro-gay content in that movie?  No Way!  I hate you; you must be a horrible person!  Get a life!”

“You see pro-gay content in that movie?  Me too!  But you didn’t appreciate it?  I hate you; you must be a horrible person!  Get a life!”

Really?  And it’s worth the deterioration of your soul to denigrate a woman with an idea that doesn’t jive with you?  It was kind of unbelievable.  Hundreds of people sure that either the lady was or wasn’t delusional and either way she was a poor excuse for a human because of what she believed.  I guess that’s freedom of speech, but boy does freedom of speech sometimes reveal unfavorable IQ levels.  If some people can see what she’s saying, fine.  If some people can’t, okay.  The rest (comment-wise) was just a disgusting display of bullying in the name of anti-bullying or chilling out…if that’s possible.

The next post,(http://wellbehavedmormonwoman.blogspot.com/2014/02/frozen-gay-agenda-response-mormon.html#.VIloIXvSk5A), only added to the circus, but this time in her favor.  How is the saying…If one person calls you a horse, laugh at him.  If two people call you a horse, think about it.  If three people call you a horse, go buy a saddle.  Something like that.  She listed ten different links to others who had come to the same conclusion (some happy about it, some sad).  This means, in my opinion, that several hundred, if not a thousand plus people, owe Mrs. Skaggs an apology, for telling her she was delusional and reading too much into “just a story.”  Turns out, it really could be viable allegory­—as many other people saw and wrote about as well, whether intended or not, and is cause for thought and possible discussion with your children (if they watch it), as an allegory for “gay suppression”, an allegory for all circumstances in which people are “stifled” in some way (and whether that is good or bad), and above all, whether that SONG (do I have to call it a song- that used to be such a nice-sounding word!) is carrying a good or bad message. 

As you can tell, I really do not like that song.  And honestly, I tried.  I couldn’t reconcile some of the lyrics with gospel principles (no right, no wrong, no rules for me anyone?) even in context of the movie—and, my husband pointed out, the song was not always going to be seen in context.  People thought it was a great song.  Not just a “great song in the proper context.”  They don’t sing it while thinking, but really, there is a place for self-restraint, growth, God’s will instead of mine, etc.  I didn’t take to the message. 

I know, I know.  There are a great many people, many of them my friends and family, who will tell me to chill and enjoy a movie once in a while without analyzing it to death.  But, as I just talked about with one of my sisters yesterday, I see gospel principles in every-day life, in everything.  Either it works with my idea of the gospel, or it doesn’t.  Nothing, to me, is just a story.  Everything carries a message, and I want to be intentional about what messages I’m accepting.

I don't know why my husband and I took an instant dislike to the movie.  I do know why we didn't like the song.  Maybe I'm overly critical.  But if you know me very well, you will also know that there are very few newer movies I like anyway, for any variety of reasons.  My sister told me that this is my blog and I can say what I want on it.  I hope she isn't regretting that now :).