Has it already been two whole weeks since I blogged?? I've got a lot to cover then, it's been a busy few weeks!

As far as potty training goes, Payton has been doing AWESOME with #1. She wears a pull-up to school, and the other day they told us she kept it dry all day! She's only had one accident in 2 weeks at home, and she's usually not wearing anything below the waist when she's here. She has even been going potty at restaurants, parks, and a friends house! We are really proud of her and impressed at how great she has been doing. Pooping is still another story, but we're just glad she's going and not holding it in anymore. She's afraid to poop on the toilet, but that will come in time I'm sure. We're just thrilled she's made so much progress in such a short amount of time! 

Weekend before last we were busy cleaning the house and working on our yard. Kyle and I don't really know the first thing about yards and plants, but luckily Sue and Grandma Joy do! We couldn't have done it without them and Grandpa Dave too, and the difference was amazing. We redid the little area in front of our front window, it looks awesome now!

Before picture

It was covered in slate slabs, which we removed

Breaking ground! 

Cute little helper

We lined the side with bricks to give it a little height...

Filled it with fresh dirt (and the plants!)

I can't remember exactly what they are... we had a lot of help picking them out :) The one on the far left is a tree, and I think the other two are shrubs. They will grow quite a bit and give that window a little shade!

Add some bark dust and... voila!

The finished product! 

Thank you again so much to Sue, Grandma Joy and Dave. We couldn't have done it without you or your expertise! We're planning on planting some small flowers too, and maybe a decorative bird bath or something. It looks so much better!

Later that night Kyle, Payton and I headed to a park in North Albany to meet with a small group that our good friends belong to. It's through a church in North Albany, and it's 10 married couples, almost all of them with kids. I was worried Payton was going to be super shy, but she really surprised us by running out and playing, no hesitation! It helped that she's really liking the Boases' daughter Summer, they were like little BFF's. Super adorable! We are really excited about joining this group; they meet every other Sunday, and it's a great way for Payton to interact with other kids, not to mention Kyle and I to meet other young couples our age. We get to enjoy friendship and fellowship, and we're really looking forward to it! 

Friday night we celebrated Sue's birthday with a family dinner at Applebee's, then dessert at our house after Payton went to sleep. On Saturday Sue took Lindsey and I shopping in Eugene to spend the birthday money that she gave us last month, and we came home with a very full trunk of shopping bags! It was an extremely successful trip. I hadn't been shopping without Payton since January, so I REALLY enjoyed myself. It was so nice to take my time in stores and really shop around! Payton is just not one of those kids who's content to sit in her stroller while their mom wheels them around the mall. She wants in, she wants out, she wants a snack, she wants to take things off the hanger, she wants to go potty, she wants my cellphone, she wants up... let's just say short trips are typically manageable, but all day shopping excursions are not! I found so much great stuff, I can't remember the last time I found so much in just one shopping trip. We took a break halfway through the day to have lunch at Olive Garden, then went right back at it until we had to leave! Thank you girls for such a fun trip!

While we were shopping away, Kyle had Payton all day. He decided to bust out the finger paints that I bought a while ago but hadn't used yet, and she had a blast!

Fun!

Very detailed work...

For dinner that night we went to Red Robin, I invited my Grandpa Book and Dot to dinner for his birthday. He's going to be 80 next week! We had a great time visiting for a while, and Payton was her usual charming self. She even held Grandpa Book's hand all the way out of the restaurant! 

My Grandpa's birthday is also Kyle and my anniversary... married 4 years this week! When I look at pictures of that day, it seems like a lifetime ago. So much has happened to us, and yet it's just recently that I feel like life has really started to settle down. Payton's finally in a daycare we both love, we both have good jobs, and we've owned our home almost a whole year already. We're excited to see what the next few years have in store!

Happy birthday shout outs to Sue, Grandpa Book, Aunt Tawnya and my sweet Grandma Book too!

Many of you may be wondering about how the rest of my "potty palooza" weekend went. Read on, if you dare... I apologize ahead of time for my ranting.

Sunday was the exact opposite of Saturday; awful! That's when we noticed how bad Payton's poop issues have gotten. She tried to (not) poop 13 times that day (and no, that is not a typo). She sat on the potty for 4, but 9 times I caught her standing up and straining, trying to hold it in. She would poop a little bit, but no where near what she needed to. Her constipation has gotten to the point where she's now afraid of having a bowel movement because she associates it with pain, so she tries to hold it in in an attempt to avoid the pain... which makes her more constipated... which means when she finally does go, it really is painful... and the whole process starts all over again! After repeating this on Monday, I was about ready to pull my hair out from stressing about it; I just wish I could talk to her in a way she'd understand: you're making it so much worse for yourself! Just sit down and push it out and it will be over! But alas, Payton would just hear the word "poop" and start whining and crying. I was really glad that I was seeing her pediatrician the next day (2.5 year check-up), because I was at my wits end. Plus I had this dilemna; do I keep potty training? I really don't want to give up, but I also don't want to emotionally scar her or make her afraid to use the toilet for life! Plus by the third day she wasn't drinking as much, and she would grab at herself and complain of pain. I thought great, now she's going to hold her pee in too and get a UTI... what do I do???

When I presented my dilemna to the pediatrician, he told me to back off potty training for the time being. He said that hopefully she will be potty trained by 3, but we're still six months away from that. Plus he said if she's afraid to go, we won't be successful anyway and it will just put more stress on us, and especially her. I definitely agreed with that! He said that it can take a child up to a year after starting miralax (she's been on it probably 4-5 months so far) for them to stop being afraid of going, so we basically have to wait it out. I HATE it though, I hate watching her cry and push and be in pain... which is why I took to the internet! More on that in a minute though... here are Payton's stats at 30 months:

Height: 37" (85th percentile)
Weight: 33.2 pounds (90th percentile)
BMI: 75th percentile (previously 90th percentile!)

So he said she's really starting to thin out, and was very pleased with her growth and development. He noticed she has some eczema that's flaring up, so he told us to start putting lotion on her twice a day instead of just at night. She needs to have the lotion on within two minutes of being out of the bath so that it can really lock in the moisture. Now she's my little grease monkey! She got a flu shot too while she was there, and took it like a champ. Didn't even want a band-aid, just wanted to play with a latex glove! We don't go back until she's 3!

Anyway, back to my good friend, the internet... I was determined to try something, anything. I didn't want to just wait for her to get it, which could take months. So, I began my research in earnest... and have decided to try a few new things.

1) This was a great idea my mom gave me. I give Payton her miralax in the morning in her milk, but she doesn't always drink it all. So, I started to mix it with just a little bit of hershey's syrup, so she would want to drink it, and I told her it was her special medicine. I told her the doctor wants her to drink it, and when she does it won't hurt to poop anymore. Payton was really excited about her "medicine" as she calls it, and drank most of it down this morning! I kept repeating to her "that's great honey, now it won't hurt when you have to poop because you drank your medicine!" She didn't cry when I talked about pooping, which was a big step in and of itself!

Drinking my special milk at breakfast! Out of a big girl cup no less!

2) After a lot of research, it seems that dairy doesn't settle well with some kids, and is really constipating. Now, do I think Payton is lactose intolerant? No, I have no reason to think that. Could she be sensitive to too much dairy? It seems a possibility, especially when I think back on her constipation problems, and realize they all started when we transitioned her from formula to whole milk. So would it hurt to try soy milk? In my opinion no, I'm willing to try anything at this point to see if it helps! So I went out and bought my first half gallon of soy milk, and she actually seems to really like it! She calls it her "special milk". We'll see if it helps!

3) I also picked up several things like white grape juice, prunes, that sort of thing. She actually really likes the prunes! I don't give her too many though, because I don't want her stomach to cramp either.

Are you tired of me talking about my daughter's poop yet? :) Sorry, it kind of rules my life right now! Tonight Kyle and I gave her yet another suppository, and about half an hour later we noticed her trying to push and straining. We kept telling her it won't hurt, you've had your special medicine, you just have to push... and yes, I am not ashamed to say it, I bribed her with a cookie. I don't usually believe in that, but I was so desperate! And she actually pooped! Kyle and I were so relieved! I'm REALLY hoping that from here on out, she won't be afraid anymore now that she's done it and realized it was ok. I can't stand watching my baby in so much pain!

And for the rest of potty training? I'm actually really pleased to say that even though I have completely backed off, Payton has continued to go in the potty without me saying a word to her. Not all the time, but usually at least once a day. Today she went 3 times all by herself! In fact, we were all in the family room today when she said "I have to go to the potty" and left the room. We kind of just laughed because sometimes she just says that and doesn't go or she gets distracted. Well about a minute later she came back in, and even though her pants were pulled up I noticed her diaper was off. She said "I went in the potty!" I followed her out, and sure enough she did! She went there all by herself, pulled her pants down, took her own diaper off, peed in the potty, pulled her pants back up, and came to tell us! I was very, very proud. Funny how when I backed off and stopped caring, she stepped up and did it anyway! Hopefully things continue to go this well.

Believe it or not, there are other things that have been happening around here that don't revolve around Payton's bodily functions (not a lot, mind you, but some!). Kyle started school on Tuesday, and although his schedule was a little crazy at first, he's really looking forward to getting this year started. His voice wasn't used to talking so much though!

Annual first day of school picture!

My parents came down this weekend to see us! My dad and I went to the Duck game on Saturday, and my mom babysat my kiddo so we could go. Kyle was actually in Portland doing the Warrior Dash, he finished in 32 minutes! The Duck game was really fun, but also really hot. We played Fresno State, and although they put up a good fight, they were no match for mighty Oregon!

Go Ducks!

On Sunday we relaxed at home, then ran to Costco. We found Payton's Halloween costume, she's going to be a cowgirl this year! Then the men took the baby home to nap so my mom and I could enjoy some time together and have a relaxing lunch. All in all it was an excellent weekend! 

Have a wonderful week!

Potty Training: Day 1

Whew! The first official day of potty training is over! It actually wasn't bad at all, even enjoyable watching Payton get so excited about going to the bathroom all on her own. One of the tricks of this potty training method is not to "hover", just let her figure out on her own what she needs to do. You may clean up more messes, but you can actually stress the child out more and make them not want to go by constantly watching over them. So when she woke up, I told her that we were throwing away her diapers and had her help me put all of them in a trash bag and throw them in the garage. I told her that she is going to start using the big girl potty like mom and dad, and showed her where it is. Then I took her diaper off, took a deep breath, and... let her be. Payton went twice in the potty this morning without me saying a word to her, and got so excited because she got to go dump it in the big toilet, wipe up with toilet paper, and wash her hands. Then she had one accident, but I just told her it was ok but next time I would like her to go in her potty, and she's a big girl and I know she could do it. And she did! There were two more times that day where she started to pee, stopped, and finished on her potty. Other than that though, she went potty in the toilet 10 times today! Wooohoo! I'm having her wear pull ups for nap and night time. I told her they were her "night time underwear". She woke up dry from her nap today, and walked out and sat down on her potty and went! VERY exciting!

I don't think going potty is going to be a problem, but I have a feeling pooping might be. It has been a problem, anyway, for several months. You may remember I have to feed Payton Miralax every morning in order for her to even go, and now she's at the point where she's "self-constipating" and trying to hold it in. I think she's afraid it's going to hurt so she tries to keep it in; either way, pooping was our biggest problem today. There were a few times (4 actually) that she went poop in the potty on her own, but she also tried to poop standing up 4 times. But, she pooped in the potty twice on Thursday night, and once the night before, so hopefully she just gets used to it. All in all, today was definitely successful!

Alright, enough about my kid's bodily functions. Here's a little gem I took today while she was playing with some play-doh:

She's going to kill me for this one when she's older! :)