Sweet Victory!

I am FINALLY getting a taste of it. I won't jump the gun- we are not drinking of it fully, but we have definitely had a wonderful taste, and it... is... gooood. Almost a year and a half after sitting her on the throne for the first time, and almost a year after taking the whole thing more seriously- Hannah Grace is finally well on her way to being potty trained.

(Warning: If you do not want to hear about the elimination processes of my children, stop reading here)

I am telling you, she has been ONE TOUGH COOKIE. I never could have imagined potty training being this difficult. I know she is not the norm- but I just never dreamed it was possible for it to be that impossible. Again, I started sitting her on the potty casually at 18 months and at two we bought her her potty chair and panties and started on our way. With the big 3rd birthday nearing and literally no progress with the potty I was beginning to panic, lose hope, and become VERY frustrated. Sure I knew she wasn't going to go to 1st grade wearing diapers, but at moments I did let myself wonder. The girl would throw a fit every time we tried to get her to go to the potty, cried no if is asked her, and even would hold it for ridiculous lengths of time- one time she did not go from 7 in the morning until 7 at night. How do you MAKE a child urinate?? You can't!!! I was frustrated with her and definitely frustrated with myself, what was I doing wrong?? Every parent reaches this feat, why can't I??? I was doing and trying EVERYTHING anyone had said about potty training tips and advice. Here's the problem- they really grind into your head to make the potty a pleasant experience- I had tried all the rewards, having toys and books for her while on the potty, and especially tried so hard NOT to show frustration when we would sit on the potty for thirty minutes with nothing, then get up and she would have an accident- or she would just tell me she didn't have to go, scream if I tried making her, and then would just proceed to go in her underwear. I was so worried about traumatizing her into thinking the potty was bad, I just tried not to push to hard. The problem was, no matter what I did, she had already decided on her own the potty was a bad thing.

So Saturday was the day. It was a long and frustrating day for both Ryan and I. We sat on the potty for hours that day with little luck. I decided it was time to buckle down and get over the worry of traumatizing her or "punishing" her for not going or having and accident. We tried a different route and got slightly forceful. No matter how much she kicked and screamed, flailed her arms, cried until she was red in the face, we made her sit on that potty- it took both of us to get her or keep her on there at times, but at this point I decided I was not giving up. After I had sat with her for over an hour at one point, how could I give up then? Let her up, have an accident, and just have wasted all that time- no way! She was crying and screaming and I was wanting to cry and scream too! But it paid off, BIG! We had two successful potty sittings on Saturday. I could have about wet my own pants out of excitement, ha! =) The cheers and hollers ringing through the house were wild. And then the second time came- making me think maybe this time it WASN'T a one hit wonder, and I just felt so relieved. Sunday was sort of a break with church and other things, she wore a pull up pretty much the whole day and I think she may have gone once, but only a couple drops. Which by the way, is another thing- I had been trying to potty train without using pull ups. To me, they were an unnecessary extra expense, especially when I had another in the same size diapers I had to buy for. When I mentioned to my mom that I was reconsidering if that was a good idea, they bought some for while we were up there and I really think that has helped too. Until we were ready for panties all the time, I think every time I was putting her in a diaper we were "reverting back to our old ways" Where having the pull up helped me to see easily when she was wet and dry, and also was different than a regular diaper and I think left her with the feeling of continually working toward this change-- just a note. Now we are strictly using them for nap time and night time and going out of the house still for now.

Then today came around. We kept on keeping on- we had MANY accidents, but MANY successes and she is finally going in large amounts- rather than only letting out a little bit (sorry is this T.M.I?). She showed progress today just by starting out the day by not fighting sitting on it, but not really giving me any hints to when she had to go either- and by tonight the words "Mommy, I have to go potty" were actually coming out of her mouth- MUSIC TO MY EARS! We have yet to have a #2 on the potty- but at this point, I don't even care! And it's not that that I get frustrated over an accident- now that we are making progress, I can handle all the accidents she throws at me- just being past the defiance part is so amazing. I told Ryan tonight, I just can't believe we have finally made it to this point. I am so proud of her and I officially feel like I have my "big girl" ready to conquer the world =). I know it may seem extreme, but if you have any idea how much of a challenge this has been for us over the past year... and I guess that is why I wanted to be sure to post it-not only is it a big milestone, but maybe somebody who reads this can or will someday relate.

So there ya have the front page news of the Braithwait house for this week. Yay for Hannah Gracie!!!
And I bought Bennett some big boy underwear tonight... so weird- but yep, he's next!

And I had to wait until morning to post this so I could include a picture, of course.



Bennett got a nasty fat lip yesterday that looks much better this morning, but you may still be able to tell.
Right before I took this picture while the kids were finishing breakfast, I had kissed them both on their cute little heads and thought- how lucky am I- I get to hang out with my kids and kiss on them as much as I want every morning. Thank you Ryan for making that possible for us!

(Just thought I would put my sentiment in writing since by 10:00 I may be looking for an out of the home job ha =) (Kidding, of course)

Wish us luck on the potty training front today! Hopefully it will keep going as well as I wrote about yesterday!!