Aubree and the potty

I get a lot of questions about this and the story is a bit long for facebook so I thought I would post it here.

We have adopted an open door potty policy here at home for Breven he still needs assistance wiping and sometimes will play in the bathroom so I ask that he keeps it open. With that his sister had started following him in as all little sisters do. Well at that point I asked Breven if he is going to pee to sit so sissy doesn't see him stand to pee and get the wrong idea which he is doing. Well that led to Aubree asking to sit on the potty after Breven so I did it to make her happy. One day she peed when she did this and so as with most little ones I applauded her for her triumph and moved on. Well then every time he went potty she wanted to sit so I pulled out the little training potty and put it near the big one thinking it was just a game and it would pass. So she started going in there and peeing most of the time to my surprise. So we would applaud her and move on. Then one day she said potty while Breven was at school so I wasn't busy so I took her in and she peed and we celebrated. She asked again later that day and then again at bath time. Still thinking it was fun for her I went along with it. Then this last weekend I got a surprise she had gone potty all morning and had a dry diaper from 7am until her nap at 1pm.

I got out some training pants and rewards like I had for Breven and she kicked it into high gear going all day and not a wet diaper on her or panties. So I continued since I was stuck at home with hand foot and mouth and she did great with very few accidents. Well then part of me and some friends started to think she was doing it for the candy so Monday I took away the candy. She continued to potty and stay dry most of the day and on Tuesday then yesterday we were not home and she had a wet diaper but as soon as we got home she kept the panties dry with no treats! Today she has had a diaper on since about 6:30 am and its 9:30am and she is dry as can be and going in the potty. I never ask her to potty or tell her to go I let her lead it all and much to my shock she is doing it all on her own.

I had not planned to even introduce to potty until January and that was like this is a potty you can sit on it and that not even training pants or anything else just this is a potty. I have heard of this from other moms that their daughters caught on at an early age from siblings going potty but this is totally new to me! Now if she can poop in the potty we are on our way to being diaper free soon. I am not going to be upset if she stops but if she is ready I will go along with her on her adventures in potty training.

Tasty recipe

This weekend until about Sunday I was pretty useless to cook so basically we ate throw together dinners like cooked sausage with pasta sauce and noodles, chicken nuggets, soup and so on. Sunday my feet were a bit better and I needed to make something good and something different then what we have been eating. So I opened up one of my check stand recipe books and something called out to me and the best part was I had everything on hand. I did have to make a few changes some of the big ones were I use ground turkey instead of beef, and I made boxed mashed potatoes and added garlic, salt and pepper instead of frozen mashed potatoes which means I used margarine instead of butter and our usual low fat milk, I also used 2% milk cheddar cheese.

1lb lean ground meat (recipe says beef I used turkey)
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c progresso plain bread crumbs (I had Italian and it turned out fine)
1/2 tsp dried sage leaves (Left that out none on hand)
1/2 tsp salt (I used 1/4)
1 egg
1pkg.(1lb 8oz) refrigerated mashed potatoes (I used potato flakes serving 3-4 people and added my own seasoning)
1c shredded cheddar cheese
2 slices pre cooked bacon chopped (I used 4 slices we dig bacon)
3 medium green onions

Heat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix meat, onion, bread crumbs, sage, salt and egg until well blended. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8in pie plate. Press hard this is your base and you want room to fit the potatoes and your toppings. Spread mashed potatoes over the meat mixture and smooth out. Top with cheddar cheese.

Bake un-covered for 50min or until meat reaches proper temperature. Sprinkle the top with bacon and Green onions. For a little extra decoration and crunch I made an edge with Frenches fried onions.

The original calorie count on this was kind of high but with my changes I think I was able to cut it to a reasonable level. Also if you desire a dollop of light sour cream would be tasty too.

The whole family loved it!!! Breven who hates potatoes ate every bite, Aubree demolished hers, Brad ate and had seconds. I served it with corn and a salad for us and celery for Breven. Clean up was minimal and leftovers went with Brad for lunch.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Never heard of it until last week Friday when that's what the doc said I had! Most of us outside the childhood world have never heard of it so here is the CDC thing

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm

This was the most annoying horrible thing I have ever gotten! and the funny part is my kids were perfectly fine. So last weekend I was so exhausted chalked it up to pms then Wednesday I had a sore in my mouth nothing new to me. So then Thursday I get a blister on my finger and by Friday it was all over my hands and feet and the worst was the feet! Its horrible and made it almost impossible to walk most of the weekend.

So today I go to Brevens school and 1 kid had it 3 weeks ago and they never told us because they sent him home. That is why Breven never showed signs he was immune! and now because I caught it we are all immune in our house now.

Long time no post

Sorry my readers I have been busy and very distracted the last week!

Friday night we did the usual dinner at my moms and then headed home to get ready for Halloween. Saturday we carved Brevns pumpkin, had dinner out and went trick or treating (pics later my camera is downstairs) Sunday after time change everyone was miserable when we had to get up so early and Breven was coughing again so we stayed home from church (I am beginning to think he has asthma or just can't get it to go) We did go to Costco however to get our usual supplies and cheap lunch. We then came home took naps and made steaks.

Monday was the start of another week and Breven headed out to school and Aubree and I headed to the park and errands. Aubree has taken an interest in the potty again and so we got her a potty seat for when she wants to use it. I know its early but at this point we let her lead us and if she says potty and wants to go I take her and she gets a reward if she goes and that's about as far as we go at this age.

Wednesday Brad had to go out of town for work so Breven went to school Aubree and I had a playdate and after school we all headed tot he park to play. After rest time we all had dinner with my mom at IHOP (yummy pumpkin pancakes and kids eat free after 4pm!) Aubree decided to throw a mega tantrum because she didn't want to sit. I held my ground and made her sit she attempted to toss her plate and didn't win. Eventually she gave up and sat and ate a few bites. I was surprised Breven didn't really have tantrums until he was way past 24mo old and she started already! Breven headed to cubbies and we took Aubree home where she continued her tantrums.

Yesterday Breven got to bring home his scarecrow and he is now looking for a place to display his art and prize. We then went to my moms and the kids napped and while they napped my dad had on CNN and we heard about the shooting at Ft Hood. While we are no longer an active military family my parents could understand what it must feel like to have a tragedy like that happen at a military installation. It is sad and I pray that some good comes out of this and that the killer gets what he deserves after he is tried.

Today I am taking Breven pants shopping and bible shopping. My mom has leg injections and I may be calling the doctor I think I may have hand foot and mouth virus from Breven he has already had this so of course he didn't get it but I think I did!

Back at school

Breven is much better today and so he decided he would go to school even though it was freezing cold! Its 42 degrees this morning this CA girl is not ready for that yet (yes I snow board but I have layers of clothes, gloves and stuff on to stay warm) Which by the way if you live in the area Mt High is now open and making snow beginning Friday I wish I could go but we are waiting on the real stuff.

Breven is sick again!

Yesterday he started with a sore throat and now has that and an ear infection! How did he get that with being on a z-pack! He needs to get better every time we turn around he is sick over $50 in copays and meds is getting a bit expensive. He also has pumpkin patch day Friday at school. So those of you readers who pray please pray for him to get healthy and stay that way for a while fall has not been a fun season for my baby boy.

Weekend

Well we survived the weekend but of course it was full and busy. Friday I took my mom in for round 2 of injections for her varicose veins, and then picked up Breven from a friends house where he made Carmel apples (which were even better when he added chocolate to his) we noticed his cough had come back and it was sounding worse then before so I called extended care and got him in that night. He had a 2nd chest x-ray and a new round of antibiotics.

The next morning we headed to his Harvest Festival at school. We had a good time Breven got to ride a horse 2 times, play games and we found out we took 3rd prize for our scarecrow. We did notice however that his cough had gotten worse and he was uncomfortable. So we called back and they offered to have a nebulizer treatment for him. Luckily we found a friend who has one at home and we treated him there. After 2 treatments he sounded 100 times better. We also ran to JCP's to get our pics which I am still working on scanning and posting.

Sunday with Brevens cough still lingering we decided to play it safe and stay home that day to lessen his exposure to other viruses and colds. We hung out at home played board games, legos and just quiet games. He sounded better that day and we didn't have to give him any treatments.

Monday came around and we got ready for school only to find a notice on his cubby that a child at the school has swine flu and 2 at the grade school. They are sticking to the sick policy and checking children for ill symptoms daily. The questioned me on his cough and I called in to find that he just has lung inflammation they want us to follow up in 2 more weeks. With that in mind we decided to review with Breven good hand washing, good eating habits and not sharing food and drinks with other kids. We are loading up on probiotics (found in yogurts that help the body the are also called good bacteria) vitamin C, and a general multi vitamin to help strengthen their immune systems. We are trying very hard to stay well even if that means avoiding certain things to protect the kids from getting ill. I hate to be a germaphobe but man its hard not to be. I now have hand sanitizer with me at all times, we wash hands and now Aubree wants to join in, and we are staying away from things where kids have been sick to make sure Breven gets better before we expose him to too much else.