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Potty training is still in progress. I would say that we are at about a 7 on the scale of training with 0 being not trained at all and 10 being fully trained. The boys don't have accidents in the house when the potty is in view and will use it as needed without being reminded. However, when we are outside and they are distracted occasionally they forget to sit on the potty and go even when it is sitting nearby. I'm sure that if I remembered to remind them to go they would do really well, however I forget because I have limited memory these days...another story for another time.
After 3 years of church hunting I think that we finally found a home. The funny thing is that the church that we like is the first one that we ever went to after we moved to Pennsylvania. We have visited quite a few churches over the years... Methodist, Lutheran, and some non-denominational Christian churches and never really felt a connection. When we lived in Ohio we attended a church within walking distance of our house that was at the entrance to our subdivision. It was a no-brainer to choose that church simply because of proximity, but luckily we loved it too! Unfortunately, it spoiled us for ever finding another church that could measure up. Our church in Ohio was nearby, attended by all of our neighbors, had a young pastor with kids, a contemporary service, a casual atmosphere, and the pastor was an incredible dynamic speaker with a great message. Our new home church now offers a contemporary service with a more casual atmosphere which it didn't 3 years ago. The boys go to the nursery and children's church without tantrums which didn't happen 3 years ago. Finally, the church service is at a time that works really well with our kids schedule which was non-existent 3 years ago. The church has a ton of programs for kids. It also has a great music program, so I may try to get involved in a music group when Shane is a little less dependant on me. There are also some opportunities for small group bible studies that might be fun for John and I, so we are looking forward to getting more involved and excited that we can stop picking church names out of a hat!
At church this morning we took Jonah and Sam to the nursery (Wyatt attends the children's church) and dropped them off with Jean. They are familiar with the routine by now, but today was different. Today was the first time that they have attended the nursery at church since they started potty training 2 weeks ago. So, when I dropped them off this morning I took along a little potty. Jean probably thought that I was crazy, but she put their potty down in the corner and told them where it was in case they had to go. When we picked the boys up after church she said that they used it without being reminded and she was impressed how self sufficient they were! Jean is saint!
Our little travel potty is my most essential piece of children/baby equipment that I have ever owned. It is the BEST $9 that I have EVER EVER spent. We take it everywhere! Wyatt uses it, the twins use it, even I have been known to use it in an emergency! Last week we took it to the bowling alley and the kids all used it sitting on the floor behind the scoring table! Since there is no way that I can take all four kids to the bathroom every time that somebody needs to go we set up the potty wherever we are and the kids use it without any problem. It also eliminates most of the sanitary issues associated with toddlers in a bathroom because they touch EVERYTHING!!! The twins are also still a little small for the big commercial toilets in adult bathrooms and have a hard time balancing on the seat. But the biggest factor that the travel potty helps with is the safety issues since the kids can't physically all fit into a bathroom stall and I can't see them all at the same time I am always worried that somebody will take one of them or they will wander out of the bathroom and get lost.
I'm not sure why I wrote about church and pottys in the same post, but it's too late to turn back now. In summary we found a great church and a great travel potty which are both essential parts of our lives these days and I can't imagine our life without out either one of them! (See, I did tie it all up together nicely in the end didn't I?!?!? Ye of little faith!)
If she only lived closer, I think that I would have the perfect babysitter on my hands!
I came upon this scenario yesterday and had to capture it on camera. If I had left them to their own devices it would have been interesting to see how they figured this one out. Unfortunately, images of children swinging from the chandelier and a rudimentary pulley system came to mind and I opted to let Mom and Dad figure this one out instead!
On Monday morning Bethany, Erin, and I took all of the kids (8 kids total) to Ohio to experience a mini safari. We got there before they opened and had to wait in line behind a huge group of Amish families. There was one little Amish boy that kept trying to sit and play with our kids. He was so cute dressed up in long pants and a nice dress shirt with suspenders I wanted to get a picture of him sitting next to all of our boys in their rough looking shorts and t-shirts but I didn't want to offend anybody so I didn't. His Mom had to keep escorting him back to their group and I was pleased to see that even little Amish boys have to be told the same thing over and over again too! I thought for sure that Wyatt was going to ask why all of the Amish people were dressed alike and wearing hats, but thankfully he didn't seem to care or notice.
The kids got to visit a petting zoo and feed some animals while we waited for our jeep safari. When the kids approached the goats it was like a flock of seagulls descending on people eating at the beach. The kids were nervous at first because some of the animals were a little aggressive, but they finally figured out how to feed the animals without being scared of loosing a finger and didn't want to leave even when they announced that our jeep was ready.
The jeep took us on a 40 minute winding jeep ride through pastures full of huge exotic animals that the kids could feed from a bucket. There were camels, elk, ostrich, zebras, emu, longhorn steers, deer, and lots more that I didn't recognize. The tour guide on our jeep has a speaker and made announcements about each area including facts about the animals, but I had a hard time hearing anything that she said above the noise of all of our kids! I couldn't help but wonder if the jeep with the Amish people was quiet and orderly...ours was not!
Each kid got a bucket full of food that they could use to feed the animals by hand, by dumping on the floor of the jeep, or throwing into the mouths of the animals that approached. If the kids threw the food on the jeep floor, the animals would stick their heads under the seats of the jeep and lick it off. My kids loved watching the animals lick the food off the floor so they dumped their buckets under the seats and lifted their feet up and laughed like crazy when the animals gobbled it up. When their buckets were empty they would try and steal buckets of food from the other people in our jeep, so I had to intervene a lot!
The trip was a huge hit. The kids talked about it all evening!We can't wait to go back and I have a feeling that we will make it a yearly visit.
We spent the last few days with Al, Dave, and the kids and Grandma and Grandpa. We had some fun, jam-packed days! We took everyone to the playground, hiking, the zoo, shopping, and Al and I even managed to get in a movie at the theater...just the two of us! Other than a few mishaps where Sammy got lost twice at the zoo, Jonah fell off a picnic table onto his head, Dave got poison ivy, we almost got electrocuted by some falling electric lines, and the twins peed and pooped in their undies, it was a fantastic visit and we can't wait until we see them again!
We are getting some surprise visitors this weekend. My sister, her husband, and their kids are coming for a quick visit and my parents will be coming too! We will get to meet Lucy for the first time. I haven't told the kids yet because they will ask about it 90 gazillion times until they come, but they will be so excited! We will have a full house this weekend... and I have a feeling that it may be louder than usual!
Potty training boot camp is going ok. Not well. Not bad, but ok.The boys can pee a little bit here and a little bit there, so they pee every time that they walk by the potty and see it. I was spending all of my free time cleaning the potty so I decided to put the potty in time out for 30 minutes or so after each kid goes on it. I will gradually increase the amount of time that the potty is in time out until they can hold it for a couple of hours at a time without needing to pee. It may take a year, but we will get there eventually. I took them to the park today in undies and took a travel potty along so that they could use it as needed and it went fine. Nobody had any accidents at the park. Potty training 2 kids at the same time is a lot more challenging than training 1 kid. I have a lot of sympathy for John and Kate Plus 8 after this phase!
Exactly a year ago Wyatt "graduated" from speech therapy. I was sure that he wasn't ready and would need to see somebody for articulation, but I was wrong! Wyatt's speech is nothing short of a miracle. He NEVER stops talking. NEVER. About anything. FOREVER. His articulation is great, but there are still a few words that he gets wrong. My favorites...
Alligator = Elevator
Tapeyto = Potato
Here's a picture of Wyatt sleeping tonight. He didn't quite leave his room, but he didn't quite stay in either.
I took Jonah, Sam, and Shane into the doctor's office on Friday to get immunizations. The twins are behind on their vaccinations because they were always sick when I brought them in for well visits so I quit scheduling well visits. Shane has never been vaccinated and never even been back to the doctor's office since his 2 week check up after he was born! It was time! I made arrangements for Wyatt to go to my friend Erin's house (she has twin 4 year olds and a 2 year old- all boys) and then John met me at the doctors office after work. When the doctor came in to check Shane over before his shots John held Jonah and Sam on his lap. The twins were silent when the doctor was in the room until we told the boys that they were next to be checked out. Sam decided that he didn't want the doctor to touch him so said "I'm ok" over and over and over again. It was cute, but it didn't work. They all did great with their shots, but I am so glad that I asked John to go because there was a lot of waiting and a lot of crying. It was definitely a two person job!
I took a bunch of pictures of Shane yesterday and they all turned out great, but this is one of my favorites....
Shane has a new snack that he likes to eat between meals!
I am excited to report that Samuel has initiated potty training. He wants to pee and poop on the potty like Wyatt and doesn't expect a reward for success other than an occasional high five and being allowed to wash his hands and play in the sink a bit! Jonah isn't as into the whole potty training thing, but he doesn't want to be outdone by his baby brother so he is playing along. When Sam is naked he is 100% successful at going in the potty. Jonah...not so much. The main problem is that I can't keep them off the potty! They can pee a little bit every time that they sit down so they want to keep doing it. The first 2 hours of my day on Monday went like this..... somebody pees on potty, I empty and clean out potty, the trainee washes his hands, somebody else pees on the potty, I empty and clean out the potty, trainee #2 washes his hands, trainee #1 pees on the potty again, I empty and clean out the potty, trainee #1 washes his hands, trainee #2 pees on the potty.....etc. etc. I finally put the potty in time out on the kitchen counter so everybody would stop peeing in it and end the vicious cycle so that I could make breakfast! It is a lot different potty training the twins compared to training Wyatt.... I think that I need 2 pottys because the boys try and push each other off the potty when the other is on. They fiddle with themselves a lot more than I remember Wyatt doing which makes it a lot harder to pee according to John. They love peeing outside and are self-motivated! I am so looking forward to only having 1 kid in diapers! Yipee!!!!!
