CLEARLY....clearly...I am NOT an efficient blog update-er. Quite the opposite! But, believe it or not, I do "write" blog updates in my head while running errands on a regular basis. Can't you tell? Haven't you read them all? No...?
But, tonight, I had a few free moments while Isaac and Lydia are at Sparks/Cubbies at church and Miss Susanna is watching Sesame Street and eating mountains of raisins and I checked to see if any of my friend's had updated their blogs and WOWSERS! My dear friend Alicia has updated her blog EVERY DAY this month. I am shamed. So...I am updating! :)
The even more embarrassing part of THIS update is that it is MOMENTOUS...and I just haven't written it down yet!
Our fourth baby is due in 12 weeks.
I honestly paused after I wrote that sentence....what a MIRACLE! For so many years and in so many ways I truly believed I would never become a mama. Period. It was just so hard for me to keep the spark of hope alive that I would hold my own child in my arms someday...and that no one would ever take him or her away from me.
(oh...my heart...Susanna just called "MOMMY" from the other room!...I'm back. That child is FULL of raisins!)
But, Praise God!, I did keep a small spark alive. That light of hope was what gave us the courage to keep trying and keep believing and keep trusting....and solely because GOD IS EXTRAVAGANT and ABUNDANT and MERCIFUL and HE DELIGHTS to BLESS US...
He chose to bless us with Isaac Matthew! Our "Child of Promise" "Gift of God"!
And then years later with our Lydia Hope! Our "Beautiful Light""Full of Hope"!
And then the frosting on our life, our sweet Miss Susanna Joy! Our "Pure" "Joy"!
And now. Again. AGAIN!? Oh Lord. My heart overflows!
Our precious baby is a boy! I/we are 28 weeks pregnant and in 12 weeks (give or take) our little man will be in our arms!
I long to see your face, my son. I long to hear your voice and smell your head and kiss your ears and inspect your tummy and your toes. I can't wait to call you by your name and introduce you to your sisters and your big brother and your grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and so many friends who have loved you and prayed for you since the moment they knew you existed!
You are a FOURTH MIRACLE! Does that make you less of a miracle? Being a fourth? Does a miracle only count as a "miracle" when it happens only once? NO! I believe a miracle is anytime God intervenes where we have been told "impossible" and God steps in and says "I SAY YES"!
I cannot promise that you will be alone in very many pictures...but, that does not make you any less valuable...it proves that you are delighted in and rejoiced over and that we long for your company!
I cannot promise that I will update your baby book as fastidiously as I did Isaac's...does this make you any less important?...NO, it proves that you have added immeasurably to our home and I would rather snuggle you and Isaac and Lydia and Susanna than write about you.
I cannot promise that all of your clothes are brand new and perfectly unstained...does this make you any less worthy?...NO, it proves that WE are a blessed family and that we have a house that is overflowing with CHILDREN!
Little One...You are precious and valuable and loved and rejoiced over and anticipated joyfully and you are the object of abundant prayers of praise and thanksgiving!
Welcome to YOUR family!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Poop-tastic Potty Training Story
So...this actually happened about two weeks ago...but, it is SO FUNNY!! I had to write it down to make sure I didn't forget all the details.
Miss Lydia is potty training!! Whoo-hoo!!....once she's "trained". The "training" part is enough to try the patience of a very, very patient person.
I am not a very, very patient person.
But, on this particular day, we had a GREAT story.
Isaac was home "sick". By "sick", I mean he was fake sick...he had been sort of sick the night before but was basically perfectly healthy by morning. However, he'd made up his mind that he was "sick" and I obviously was not in the mood to push the matter. I felt that he probably did need some extra rest and a Friday in Kindergarten is not the most...shall we say...productive time frame in the world.
By 9:05 I had changed my mind. It was time to get out of the house before I and/or Isaac and Lydia went crazy!
Lydia had been potty training for about a week at this point. She REALLY, REALLY loves her Big Girl Underpants and was determined to go out on errands wearing only those, and not a diaper. So, we boldly ventured forward. Our longest stop was at a store called Other Mothers. It is a used children's clothing store. We are there A LOT! This day happened to be the Quarter Sale (about 15-20 large bins of "unacceptable" clothing is all 25 cents each). I really love the Quarter sale...but, not when my children are with me. I don't feel like I can watch the three of them and plunder the bins at the same time. But, we'd already arrived and the store was fairly empty, so, I decided to go for it!
Lydia and Isaac went to play in the play area...they don't stay there very well. Well, Isaac does...he usually ends up getting absorbed into whatever movie is playing. Lydia...she wanders off. She doesn't try to leave the store (THANK GOD), she just wanders over to the "toys for sale" area and plays there like she is in the "play area".
So, Lydia announced that she has to go potty! Yippee!! So, off we all trod to the bathroom. She went potty...but, clearly had to go poopy. This happened 6 times! She'd come, announce she had to go potty, we'd all four wander into the bathroom, she'd maybe squeeze out a few drops and that was it...but, clearly she had to go poopy.
Once again, they went back to the toy area, Susanna and I went back to the bins. And I actually got to look for a few minutes. Susanna was in a cart, happily munching on an animal cracker, and time just....slipped. Suddenly, I had that "mom panic" feeling that I hadn't heard or seen Isaac or Lydia in just a minute or two too long....you know that feeling....
Just as I was quickly finishing the bin I was in before going off to check on #1 and #2's whereabouts I hear this....
"Mommy! Mommy! I did it!!! I went poopy on the potty!!!"
I look up and see Lydia running towards me. (How she had gotten to the bathroom without me noticing is beyond me...she had to literally walk almost right in front of me to get there from the toy area...and yet...)
Out she comes, dress held high up by her armpits, undies and pants around her ankles, the middle 2/3 of herself as naked as a jay-bird!
And poop running down her legs.
Yep! I absolutely GASPED! And then ran towards her and turned this little poop machine back towards the bathroom. She had poop running all down her little bottom and her legs.
I absolutely got the "YOU ARE A TERRIBLE MOTHER" look from several mothers. I got a hearty laugh from several other NORMAL mothers. I got the "You had better plan on buying more than just a bunch of Quarter stuff after this fiasco" look from the Other Mother's people. Yep. It was AWESOME!
All four of us arrive in the bathroom to find that Lydia had indeed gone into the bathroom herself, got up on the toilet herself, pooped A LOT by herself, and then slid off and came to proudly show me her accomplishment...all by herself. The result was, that poop was all over the toilet seat (from her slide off the seat) and some was across the bathroom floor as well. Not to mention the poop on her little tushy and her legs.
Lydia was SO proud of herself! All I could say was, "Great job sweetie! You did a great job!....Just, next time,....please come and find me first."
As we left the bathroom, I was still receiving the same looks from the same parties. We all resumed our positions - playing, watching, plundering, nibbling.
We left shortly after that...with WAY too many Quarter items in an attempt to placate the store I frequent!
Just two weeks later Lydia is TOTALLY potty trained! She has been amazingly quick and focused and independent. It's AWESOME...except that, as she said yesterday, "I really, really LOVE going potty". So, we go potty about 1200 times a day. Our first actual trip somewhere is going to take about 10 hours at this rate.
But, for now, we are very proud of Lydia and this story will go down in the Johnson Family history as one of the best potty training stories EVER!
Miss Lydia is potty training!! Whoo-hoo!!....once she's "trained". The "training" part is enough to try the patience of a very, very patient person.
I am not a very, very patient person.
But, on this particular day, we had a GREAT story.
Isaac was home "sick". By "sick", I mean he was fake sick...he had been sort of sick the night before but was basically perfectly healthy by morning. However, he'd made up his mind that he was "sick" and I obviously was not in the mood to push the matter. I felt that he probably did need some extra rest and a Friday in Kindergarten is not the most...shall we say...productive time frame in the world.
By 9:05 I had changed my mind. It was time to get out of the house before I and/or Isaac and Lydia went crazy!
Lydia had been potty training for about a week at this point. She REALLY, REALLY loves her Big Girl Underpants and was determined to go out on errands wearing only those, and not a diaper. So, we boldly ventured forward. Our longest stop was at a store called Other Mothers. It is a used children's clothing store. We are there A LOT! This day happened to be the Quarter Sale (about 15-20 large bins of "unacceptable" clothing is all 25 cents each). I really love the Quarter sale...but, not when my children are with me. I don't feel like I can watch the three of them and plunder the bins at the same time. But, we'd already arrived and the store was fairly empty, so, I decided to go for it!
Lydia and Isaac went to play in the play area...they don't stay there very well. Well, Isaac does...he usually ends up getting absorbed into whatever movie is playing. Lydia...she wanders off. She doesn't try to leave the store (THANK GOD), she just wanders over to the "toys for sale" area and plays there like she is in the "play area".
So, Lydia announced that she has to go potty! Yippee!! So, off we all trod to the bathroom. She went potty...but, clearly had to go poopy. This happened 6 times! She'd come, announce she had to go potty, we'd all four wander into the bathroom, she'd maybe squeeze out a few drops and that was it...but, clearly she had to go poopy.
Once again, they went back to the toy area, Susanna and I went back to the bins. And I actually got to look for a few minutes. Susanna was in a cart, happily munching on an animal cracker, and time just....slipped. Suddenly, I had that "mom panic" feeling that I hadn't heard or seen Isaac or Lydia in just a minute or two too long....you know that feeling....
Just as I was quickly finishing the bin I was in before going off to check on #1 and #2's whereabouts I hear this....
"Mommy! Mommy! I did it!!! I went poopy on the potty!!!"
I look up and see Lydia running towards me. (How she had gotten to the bathroom without me noticing is beyond me...she had to literally walk almost right in front of me to get there from the toy area...and yet...)
Out she comes, dress held high up by her armpits, undies and pants around her ankles, the middle 2/3 of herself as naked as a jay-bird!
And poop running down her legs.
Yep! I absolutely GASPED! And then ran towards her and turned this little poop machine back towards the bathroom. She had poop running all down her little bottom and her legs.
I absolutely got the "YOU ARE A TERRIBLE MOTHER" look from several mothers. I got a hearty laugh from several other NORMAL mothers. I got the "You had better plan on buying more than just a bunch of Quarter stuff after this fiasco" look from the Other Mother's people. Yep. It was AWESOME!
All four of us arrive in the bathroom to find that Lydia had indeed gone into the bathroom herself, got up on the toilet herself, pooped A LOT by herself, and then slid off and came to proudly show me her accomplishment...all by herself. The result was, that poop was all over the toilet seat (from her slide off the seat) and some was across the bathroom floor as well. Not to mention the poop on her little tushy and her legs.
Lydia was SO proud of herself! All I could say was, "Great job sweetie! You did a great job!....Just, next time,....please come and find me first."
As we left the bathroom, I was still receiving the same looks from the same parties. We all resumed our positions - playing, watching, plundering, nibbling.
We left shortly after that...with WAY too many Quarter items in an attempt to placate the store I frequent!
Just two weeks later Lydia is TOTALLY potty trained! She has been amazingly quick and focused and independent. It's AWESOME...except that, as she said yesterday, "I really, really LOVE going potty". So, we go potty about 1200 times a day. Our first actual trip somewhere is going to take about 10 hours at this rate.
But, for now, we are very proud of Lydia and this story will go down in the Johnson Family history as one of the best potty training stories EVER!
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