Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Potty training update, my current read

**For those uninterested in potty training news, please skip the next two paragraphs**
Potty training has definitely had peaks and valleys so far. This is the routine right now: When Whitney wakes up, I usually put her in "big girl" panties. She stays in them until a. she has an accident or b. we leave the house. Sometimes she will stay in them for several hours and do just fine. Other days she wets them within 30 minutes of having them on. I'm not sure if she's just too busy playing to stop and go potty or if she's still learning to recognize the signals. It has not been at all frustrating yet. Just slowly moving along.

If she has stayed dry in the morning and we're leaving to go out, I put her in a Pull-up. She's pretty good at staying dry in those, too. If she has had an accident, I usually just put her in a diaper, which she is not very motivated to keep dry. She hardly ever stays dry all day anymore. Some days she'll just have 1 or 2 accidents. Other days she only uses the potty once or twice. I think I need to find another way to motivate her. The prize jar is not really cutting it right now.


Here is the black eye, day 5
I think the worst is over.
It just looks like she's wearing heavy eye shadow.
Like this, right??? :)

Here's a cute picture of the kids I snapped yesterday.
Soon after it was taken, they started head butting each other.
End of photo shoot!

I'm reading a new book.
Saints, by Orson Scott Card

Has anyone else read or even heard of this book? I found it on clearance at the BYU bookstore this summer and Andrew and I are big Orson Scott Card fans, so I picked it up. Andrew read it several months ago and told me, "I don't think you'd like it." I haven't been reading much of anything lately, other than picture books for the kids, but decided to give it a try. I don't know that I can recommend it. I'm about 100 pages into it. It is very stressful to read. Kind of like watching LOST. I seriously think my blood pressure goes up during some of the tense moments. And there have been a few incidents in the book that I could've done without. But, what I like about it so far is it has made me so grateful for some of the normal, everyday things that I often take for granted.

It is about a family in England in the 1800's. The husband walks out on them and they are left on the brink of homelessness. O.S.Card is SO good at taking me into their lives and feeling what it was like to be in their situation. The children are forced to work in factories where they are beaten. The youngest son gets "apprenticed" (read: sold as a slave) to a chimney sweep. It is terrible. But, at least I have hope for them that they can make it out of their desperate situation.

Things I've been grateful for while reading this book:
1. Andrew. What a blessing to have a loving, kind husband who works so hard to support our family.
2. An insulated house with a heater. I HATE being cold.
3. My absence of pain. These kids are treated so terrible by their overseers at work. It breaks my heart. They are worked to the bone and are sore every day. The only pains I feel lately are self-inflicted. (I bought a new Billy Blanks workout on DVD. I am sore all the time, but only because I choose to be.)
4. Food. I have never had to worry about where my next meal is going to come from. I am so fortunate.
5. Education. For myself and my kids. And Andrew, too. Sometimes I wonder if Brandon's getting the best education that he can. This book has made me remember that it's a blessing that he can be in school at all.

As I said, don't know if I recommend it, but I am grateful for the lessons I'm getting out of it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you ever read "Oliver Twist"?
(If not, and very few people have,
rent the up-beat musical version,
"Oliver!"

Anonymous said...

I haven't read Saints but keep meaning to. OSC is a quite a celeb in the Mormon Lit circles I find myself in lately--he's worshipped a bit because he's found commercial, cross-over success but he hasn't apostatized. He is quite an opinionated dude, though. (Have you ever seen his webpage? He has lots to say regarding just about everything.) Have you ever met him? I'd love to score an interview or (even better) a short story of his to publish in Irreantum. The AML folks loooove them some OSC (see, he even has a moniker, like J-Lo or K-Fed).
I agree w/ the "Thankful For" post. So good to be blessed, even better to realize that you're blessed and be thankful for it.
Ang

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the book review! I loved being reminded to be grateful, too, because I always forget. In R.S. Sunday our teacher read the one quote that goes something like "We are not grateful when we are happy, rather we are happy when we are grateful."

She told a story about being a newlywed and they only had one car. One day it ended up she had to walk to work, and she was a little irritated about it. As she walked she said she heard the sounds of kids playing outside after school and it reminded her of how much she loved coming home after school and playing with her friends and she started smiling. Then as she walked she noticed the beautiful mountains (she was living in Provo) and felt gratitude for the beauty of the earth and had the thought go through her mind that it's not just the big blessings that should remind us of our Heavenly Father's love for each of us, but also the small ones that we experience each day.

and I'm thankful for blogs!
Love,
Mom

Anonymous said...

I haven't read any OSC books yet. He's one of those guys that people in SUnday School say, "I don't know which General Authority said this...I think it was Orson Scott Card..but..." so I guess I've had a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing:) Maybe I should give him a chance, though - what book WOULD you recommend?

PS - The Shiner is looking much better...EXACTLY like purple eyeshadow:)

andrea said...

Angie--I guess I haven't actually met OSC. I've been in the same room as him several times and have worked with his wife on a couple of RS things. Andrew might have more clout in trying to get you in touch with him if you wanted to see if he would write for Irreantum and/or give you an interview.

Sandy--His most well-known novel is Ender's Game. I love it. It is sci-fi, but it's not too far out there. I enjoyed that whole series, actually. Another that I liked was called Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. It was very unique and I enjoyed it. (disclaimer--it has been a while since I read it, so I apologize if there is any offensive material in it that I have forgotten about.)