The Things We Miss While We Sleep...

All of my children have had sleep issues @ one point or another. Back that up, Evelyn and Max... Sam has always been a good sleeper. Lately Max has taken a page from his dad's book and wants to be up at odd hours of the night. Usually he does this when he is teething. He had been having a good stretch, but he has 2 molers working on it. He had a good nap yesterday, so he stayed up a little later and I put him down @ 9. He didn't complain, he will sit in there and play. We didn't hear him until 1:15. Sometimes he just needs a cuddle and a binky. Rick went in, but that didn't work. I got up a few minutes later to try, but he stopped crying, so I went back to bed. You all know what happened as soon as I laid down, he started crying again. I got up, he stopped, so I went to the bathroom and got a drink, then he started again. When I went in, he was standing up in his crib and I could tell it was going to be one of those funny nights- were he thinks he has just had a nap and wants to play. I got him a drink, he seemed to be really thirsty and then we went to the living room. He seemed fine to sit on my lap and cuddle for awhile and then he wanted down. This whole time, I have tried not to talk to him, no extra stimulation. I went and laid on the floor and he came over with his water bottle in his hand. (He has started to do this funny crawl where he scoots on his bum.) He pulled himself up to stand next to me and then bent down to get his water bottle, still holding on to me, but couldn't quite do it. So he let go, picked up the water bottle and stood up! He stood there for a few seconds and then landed on his bum. Just think, if I had been sleeping I would have missed it! Although, he should have been sleeping too. Next time you decided to introduce a new trick Max, could you do it during regular business hours?

Beef Stew

I made some really yummy stew on Saturday afternoon. In fact Rick said it was the best stew he had ever had. Yippee! I don't think I had actually ever made stew before, but it was cold and rainy/slushing and I thought it was a perfect day for it. I found the recipe here- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beef-Stew-VI/Detail.aspx

I thought I would type it out anyway, just to make it easier. I did use some of the reader suggestions, so I will type it how I made it. The things in italics are the changes, either mine or the reader suggestions.

• 2 pounds cubed beef stew meat (I didn't have quite this much)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. onion powder
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 3 big cloves garlic, sliced or coarsely minced
  
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled
• 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (I used about a T. of fresh rosemary, chopped)
  
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (I forgot this)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 5, they were on the small side)
  
• 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used baby carrots, just eye balled the amount)
  
• 4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used 5)
  
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 T. Ketchup
• 1 T. A-1
• 1 T. Worcestershire
  
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, cook beef in oil over medium heat until brown. (Before browning the meat, mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper in bag and toss the meat to coat.) I also cooked my garlic just slightly before adding my meat. Dissolve bouillon in water and pour into pot. Stir in rosemary, parsley and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour.
2. Stir potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion into the pot. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 teaspoons cold water and stir into stew. Cover and simmer 1 hour more.
3. Once my meat was browned I added my liquid and then added things in stages as I prepped them. My meat didn't need 2 hours to get tender. I don't think mine cooked much over an hour and 15 minutes. I thickened mine at the end, once all the veggies were cooked. If you don't like your gravy as thick, the flour thickens it just enough that the cornstarch might not be needed.

A little nod to Rachael Ray with the GB.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
recipe to follow....

Progress... I think

Yesterday morning was rough. I mean really bad. He just kept pooping in his undies. I kept taking him, but it just wasn't working. I was ready to give up. *Sigh* Then in the afternoon, probably because he was done pooping, he started telling me that he had to go. He has never done that before. So I thought maybe all wasn't lost. I put him in a diaper for bed last night, the pull ups just weren't cutting it. This morning was a little haired, we had a soccer game at 9 and were running late. He had been up for awhile, I had even showered, and I told him to come in and go. I figured that his diaper was wet, so I hadn't bugged him about it. He came in to go, reluctantly, but peeped a bunch and off he went. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I discovered that his diaper was dry!!!! Yeah! So off we went to soccer. It was cold and poor Max had to get pulled from the warmth of his bed to leave. We didn't realize how cold it was and weren't exactly prepared. Rick took his jacket off to wrap around Max. Evelyn was layered, but her hands were freezing. She doesn't do real well when she is cold. Sam did ok. Max and I finally headed to the truck to warm up. He was just too cold. A while later, I see Rick and the kids coming, but no stroller. They warmed up for a minute and then Sam gave his jacket to his sister to wear so that Rick could have his jacket back. The boys and I stayed in the warm truck. Back to the potty business... I kept asking him how he was doing, he was in undies. I think it was around 8:30 when he used the potty this morning. He kept saying he was fine, there was no poop or pee. Gulp... So the game finished up and I decided to brave running to the store. I had been the night before, but had forgot a couple of things. So off we went. He still said he was fine. Gulp... We made it home, dry, and he went as soon as we came in the house. Yeah!! So I feel that we have made some progress. He still hasn't pooped today, that seems to be our down fall. Hopefully (I am keeping my fingers crossed) things will go better today. He keeps telling me he won't poop and pee in his undies, I really want to believe him...

Day #2 and I do mean #2...

So... today didn't go as well as yesterday. Today poop was involved. He had an accident this morning, totally expected, I just wish it would have an impact on him. He didn't come tell me, I went to get him to use the potty and found the mess. Day went on, he was laying on the living room floor and peed. Didn't seem to care... This afternoon had a small pee accident and start of a poo, but we got to the bathroom before any major damage was done. I made him sit until he pooped. It wasn't a pretty 30 minutes, but he finally did it. I read him a story and went to get another one and that's when he did it. Yeah! We called Rick at work and I got him his cars and treats and turned on a movie. I am hoping now that he has done it once, he wouldn't be so freaked out to do it again. I am happy to report there have been no more accidents. He even went outside for awhile and played. I called him in once, he tried, but couldn't go. When he came in, he went and even pooped a little more. More cars, more treats and a call to dad. So even though the day didn't start out pretty, I feel we are ending on a good note. Side note... this afternoon, I thought he had one more pair of undies. He didn't. So on went his sisters panties. They were blue, but dad didn't like that idea and will be stopping to buy more undies after work. lol!

Darn...

I was doing so good with 31 for 21, until yesterday. I did realize late last night that I hadn't blogged, but I was too tired to get out of bed. There have been a few days were I have posted twice, so I am hoping that will make up for yesterday.

I thought I would share our Potty Training progress. I feel like yesterday was a success. He had an accident right off the bat, but then did great the rest of the day. He did have a little one in the afternoon, but no big deal. I set the timer every 30 minutes, sometimes he would go, other times not. Evelyn even got in on the act. When ever the timer would go off, she would say, "Potty time!" I printed out a chart to put stickers on (thank you Kimberly) so that he could earn cars that way. He didn't poop yesterday, I am sure that is going to be a battle. I did get him to tell me that he thinks it is going to hurt to poop on the potty. I assured him that his bum won't hurt if he goes on the potty, only when he goes in his diaper (and it sits there for hours!). I did put him in a pull up for bedtime. He has gotten up dry before, but I don't want to press my luck. I told him as soon as he woke up to come in and tell me and we would go potty. He wanted to tell his dad... fine just tell someone! I don't know what time he got up, we weren't up yet. The hall light was on and Rick asked who I thought it was. He went and checked and Sam was in on the potty. Yeah! His pull up was soaked, but he did it himself. He said he would try again after breakfast, he did and he went. So I think we are making progress... Stay tuned.

Handbag Planet

I just found a site (on my sil's sil's blog) where you could win a free bag. Looks cool, check it out!

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

I've Done It....

Now lets hope I can continue to do it and that he can do it. I know he can... Lets back up here. Sam is 3 1/2 and not potty trained. For any of you that have changed 3 1/2 year old poop, it isn't fun. Frankly, I'm tired of it. Nothing motivates him, not even chocolate. Evelyn, on the other had, was saying, "I NEED chocit!" at an early age. He simply doesn't care if he sits in his own waste for hours on end. I don't think to change him as often as his brother and he doesn't think to tell me that he is poopy. So today before lunch when I was changing him (one of 3 poopy diapers today) I told him that when the diapers where gone I wasn't getting any more. I've had enough. I really talked it up and told him how big of a boy he is and that he could do it. When we first tried to do this, we told him that once he didn't wear diapers anymore, that we could go to the store and get Mac (from the movie Cars). He liked that idea, went once and thought that was it. lol! No, no, we said you have to go all the time and wear undies. That motivation didn't last. He would talk about it from time to time, but not do anything about it. He will finally go and sit on the potty, that's something that has really only been happening for the last couple of months. Before that, he wouldn't go near it. He acted deathly afraid of it. I know you can't push it, but I know that he gets it now. It goes back to the whole he just doesn't care. Rick finally broke down and went and bought a bunch of Match Box cars, it seemed to be the only motivator. He would get 1 if he told us he had to go and went in and actually did it. He would have 2 if he pooped. Even though he LOVES cars, even that motivator was hit and miss. That's why I have decided that he needs a push. I might be pulling my hair out by the end of the week, but here goes. I really need to clean my carpets, but I think I should probably hold off...

Pumpkin Patch

Tonight for FHE we took the kids to dinner and then to the Pumpkin Patch. They were so excited to pick there own. Evelyn had big plans to find a small one for Max. She picked a little white one for him. As we were walking around, I was thinking about being there last year. Max was just tiny. Evelyn and Sam have both really grown up a lot this year, and I do me up. Standing in the field I could see how much taller they were. lol! I will post some pictures tomorrow. They will defiantly be made into a couple of pages.