I LOVE when God asks me to share my air conditioning!

Ok, so it's only happened for the first time this week, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. My friend Christa's air conditioning went out at their house, and since the air conditioner fixer people seem to have been inept at getting it fixed, she's spent the last two afternoons at our house with her three kids while they escape the heat. She says she feels bad, which is just so silly, because it's been such a JOY for me to have someone to just hang out with, let the kids be crazy and wild while we do our best to ignore them, and talk to each other as much as the munchkins will let us. Anyone who knows me well at all knows that I would love more than anything to hang out and talk to friends all day. I'd do it every day, if I could! Relationships are important to me. I feel that they are especially important during this season of young motherhood. I'm sure it's true for every season, but since that's where I am now, I can really appreciate the gifts that God gives in friendships with other women. It seems that God is blessing me here by bringing some great girls into my life, and I want so much to cultivate those friendships to a deeper level.

I have really enjoyed getting to know Christa and her family, and I am thankful that God is bringing more opportunities to get to know her better. I first met them soon after we moved here, and I recognized that this couple had such depth to their walks with God, and I was so impressed by their passion for Him. Truly their lives showcase to me God's grace in a big way, and it has been a huge encouragement. I feel like there is a lot I can learn from her. And she is just going to have to be my friend now, whether she likes it or not! Yesterday afternoon, I was holding her three-month old baby boy, and Jonah walked up and put something in my hand and asked, "What's this?" It was a little dark ball of something, and I told him I thought it was an old fruit snack that he must have found on the floor. Upon closer examination, I recognized an odor that would quickly indicate that it was not a fruit snack. Oh yes, it was a little ball of poop. Christa immediately grabbed the baby and I jumped up to dispose of it in the toilet, check Jonah's pants to see what he had done in there, wash my hands a bazillion times, and pray repeatedly and fervently that my son had not put it up to his mouth. We soon found another small ball of poop on the living room floor. I realized quickly that it was not a product of any of Jonah's activity, since he is not yet skilled in pulling his underwear and shorts down and up and there was no way he could dispose of one small poop ball without leaving evidence in his Spiderman undies. It looked suspiciously similar to Christa's daughter Rebecca's earlier diaper inhabitants when she had her last diaper change, so we eventually surmised that the "mystery poop" as we referred to it, must have escaped when Rebecca's dirty diaper was taken out to the trash. Don't know how that happens. Don't really want to know. But Christa, if you are reading this, now you know: you're stuck with me. I'm making you be my friend. And you can't say anything about it, because I held your daughter's poop IN. MY. HAND. It's a done deal. You owe me. =)

I've got to record video of Jonah soon, so he can perform for you a little bit. I'll need the technical support of my very computer-savvy husband for that though, and he's very involved this evening in the first college football game of the season. So I'll try to get right on that as soon as possible. Jonah is just getting funnier by the day. I asked him at lunch today if he thought it was going to rain. He looked out the windows up at the sky for a long time and then replied, " I don't see the thunder......probably not." Just adorable. And you wouldn't believe this kid's imagination. Every mealtime, he tells us that there are elephants under the table. Every time. He is always pretending something. It's pretty funny. It might be the first trait of his that resembles any part of his mother!!! I had quite the imagination as a child and some might say I'm still a little dramatic. Whatever. It's great that Jonah is that way, because it really allows him to play with one or two toys (which usually involves his farm animals or his zoo animals) all week and not get bored because his toys are "doing" so many different things every time. I'm loving it. Oh yeah, and one other funny thing he said this week....He slipped and fell in the kitchen, and I asked him if he was going to be ok. He said, "yes, I'm ok......I'm very happy," and he got up and kept going wherever he was headed. Oh, Jonah, you make your mama very happy.

Let the Busyness Begin...

I can feel that Fall is coming. We've reached the point when all the "new stuff" of the year seems to be starting or starting back up. I'm thrilled about it all though. We have several new ministry things on the plate. For one, Joel and I will be starting a new community group at our church this September, which is certainly what God has for us right now. It will be for young couples, and God hasn't yet shared with us who those couples will be - apart from our good friends Mike and Ame Hansen. So I'm SO excited to see what all God has in store for the group. I'll keep you posted on here, because I have a suspicion God has great things in mind. The women's fall Bible studies are starting in a couple of weeks. Mom and I have been busy organizing those, and yesterday we had a party for all of the ladies who will be teaching this fall. If I haven't said it before, this place has an amazing women's ministry, and we gathered together for about an hour and a half yesterday afternoon to fellowship, pray, and really celebrate the stories God has given us about what a blessing women's Bible studies have been in our lives. Which leads me to this....

I am not at all pleased with how my public speaking skills went yesterday. Before I dropped off Jonah at my sweet friend's house and headed to the meeting, I ran into Chick-fil-A to get us some lunch. We waited in a long line, and when we got up to the place of being the next one to be helped, Jonah has to go to the bathroom. So we get out of line, take him to the potty, and come back to find an even longer line than before, and we waited through that. Ah, the joys of having a big-boy who's not quite big enough to hold it for TWO MORE MINUTES. Anyway, that's really beside the point. Here's the real story: When I dropped off Jonah at my friend's house so I could attend the meeting, I discovered that my car wouldn't start, and I ended up being late to my own event. Fun times. I was the last one there. And I was the first to speak at the podium. I was actually out of breath. I must have come across as extremely nervous, and I can see why, but I truly wasn't nervous at all. I LOVE sharing my story....God has made me so passionate about this, so it's easy to talk about. However....something happened yesterday. I didn't speak well, I left out entire chunks of my talk so I know I didn't "wrap it all up" well, and I was trying to catch my breath for the first ten minutes. I realize this may not sound like abnormal behavior to any of who you despise public speaking, but I was a communication major in college!!! If my professors could have seen me yesterday, they'd have been REAL SAD, I just know it. Well, once I moved past my introduction/welcome into the time I was sharing about my own personal experience of what Bible study has meant to me (which perhaps I'll blog about soon), things were going much better. Until I started CRYING. I made mention of one name - Betty Whistler - and the tears came. I was not prepared for them at all. And all I could think was, This is SO cliche. Crying at a women's meeting at church? It's to be expected. But I was NOT going to do it. I was going to be peppy, upbeat, cheery, all "YAY God! YAY Bible Study!" Somehow, I don't think my overwhelming tears (and I do mean the kind of tears that you can't talk through) conveyed that message. It was an experience, to say the least. A humbling one. One that I have to trust God with. I felt prepared, confident, and then WHAM came the car trouble, the tardiness, and things I really couldn't control. So I am making the choice - even though I am rather disappointed in my delivery yesterday - to trust that maybe God had someone there who needed to see that, who needed to see someone leading who didn't look like they had it all together. Maybe it was a teacher who was doubting their skills and wondering if they were doing the right thing by leading a study when they didn't feel they communicated well or had the gift of teaching. Then, they better have been convinced!!! Because that was not fun to be put through. =)

I feel like the Lord has brought that truth to light in my life before....that sometimes someone I minister to in my home needs to see a home that is not Pottery Barn. Not perfectly decorated, put together, or ridiculously clean. Sometimes that meets them right where they are and is a better environment for communicating God's love to them. I know I am encouraged and downright blessed when I see people use their homes to express God's love and hospitality even when their house isn't this perfectly decorated Parade of Homes-type house. Interesting how He works that way sometimes.

Anyway, back to yesterday's event...apart from my speaking-craziness, I really consider the day a success. God received so much praise for what He has done in people's lives, and it really was the pep rally we needed to get excited about what God is going to do when our Bible study classes begin in a couple of weeks. I've been getting really excited about mine. I've spent the last several days typing and organizing notes in preparation, and I keep running into people who tell me how huge of a topic (anxiousness, fear, worry, panic, etc.) it is, how they have been delivered from MAJOR fear in their lives. It's something God absolutely loves to free us from, so those who have gone there with Him really have some amazing stories. And I've been blessed by hearing a few of those lately. I am praying for the ladies who will be joining me on this study. I know a few of them personally, and I already know they are going to have incredible insight into the real freedom that God gives from these struggles. I've seen them live it. I can't wait to be in class with these women. Only two more weeks!

This weekend, my brother and his wife and kiddos will be coming for a visit. I. can't. wait. It's been way too long since I've seen them. Well, it's been just over a month since we saw Nathan, but I haven't seen the others since the first weekend of May, and I do believe that four months is the longest I've EVER gone without seeing them. Blake and Amy, I'm hurting for you guys to get here!!! I know some of you think that's crazy for me to be sad about not seeing them in four months, and I would just tell you that you don't know this family, and you didn't have The Best Brother in the Whole World as your brother. (He was actually voted that by a few of my friends in high school, I remember. It's official. So, there.)

I just felt like starting the morning by going over all of the exciting new things happening in the next several weeks. Hope you're not too bored. Forgot to mention that next week is the Children's Clothing Consignment Sale!!! I'm volunteering to work at it this time, so that I can go to the earliest preview sale with my friends. Hoping I find some good stuff! Oh, who am I kidding. Of course, I'll find good stuff I want. I suppose I'm really hoping I can afford all the good stuff I find. If you're wondering what this sale is, here you go. Oh yeah, and here is their actual website.

Happy Ending-of-Summer!

A Surprise Lesson

Well, this post really isn't about potty training. I can see from the lack of comments that it's probably not at the top of your list of discussion topics! But bear with a few more sentences that concern it, because I want to share a simple truth God showed me this week. I really have been surprised by how well potty-training has gone. I know it's because of this whole process being bathed in prayer (thank you for yours!), and it's just been God's grace to allow it to go so smoothly. But more than that, I've been surprised by how much I've actually enjoyed it. Before we began, I wanted to expect the worst so I wouldn't be disappointed. But I found very quickly that I couldn't really make myself dread it. I found joy, even satisfaction, through the process of teaching my son a skill that is very important for him to learn. Even cleaning up the messes was not a problem, because I knew it was necessary for his development of this skill. I was having fun helping him learn. And then it hit me - isn't that how God is towards us? He is full of desire for us to grow in intimacy with Him, in knowledge of who He is and who He wants to be in our lives. He wants so much to see the life of His Son lived in our lives. But so often, I think that my learning process - including the ups-and-downs and huge messes I make - must annoy the heck out of Him. But I'm convinced this week that He finds joy in helping me grow into who He wants me to be. He understands my nature to take a little longer than is necessary to get to a new place with Him. It doesn't mean that my slowness (or lack of enthusiasm, to be clear) doesn't grieve His heart; I know it saddens Him to see His children walk in bondage when the price has already been paid to set us free. But He is the ever patient teacher, knowing that we're on our way to bringing Him more glory with our lives. I guess the tenderness and graciousness of God is just hitting me in a new way this week. Even though sometimes I get so tired of struggling with the same things and I'll actually wonder out loud to God, "Aren't you sick of me yet?!!", He gently reassures me that He's not. He's my parent. And he's going to help me get there. And He LOVES doing it. The grace will keep coming because that's who He is. If someone had told me how fun potty-training could be, I wouldn't have believed them. But I appreciate how God has used it to give me a tiny glimpse into how He loves me enough to find joy in the process of teaching, guiding, nurturing, and redirecting me.

Need a reminder of the tenderness of God's love for you, His child?

Read this and this.

Potty Training, The Diet Plan...

Potty training. It's the new diet plan. Have you heard? Get a jump start on losing weight by spending a week concentrating solely on your child going to the potty. You're watching your child so closely, tending to him every few minutes, so you really have no time to eat other than eating the necessary meals to provide sustenance. And even those have to be quick. But you're really distracted from snacking! No boredom snacking going on when potty-training, because there is NO TIME to be bored! And you don't lack motivation going to the gym, because you'll do ANYTHING to get out of the house for an hour when hubby gets home.

Brilliant, isn't it? Too bad it's already slowing down. Guess that's the bright side of when potty training takes a little longer to be successful. =)

Potty Training, The Details....

Don't worry, I won't tell any of the gross kind of details! I just want to say that it has been a very good week. The first day, I expected a lot of messes, and that was the case. But by yesterday morning when Jonah woke up, he really started to get the hang of it. He didn't have an accident until almost lunchtime, and he had two right in a row, and that was it. Today, we went all day with NO ACCIDENTS!!!! YAY!!!! I am so proud of him. It's his biggest accomplishment yet in life, so I'm celebrating. But I'm trying to hold back the excitement too, because I know we are a long way from being able to boldly venture out in public. We are not carefree yet and won't be for a long time. I realize that a lot of the time, I was able to get Jonah to the potty "in time" because of recognizing certain signs and immediately getting him to the potty to go, but I don't count those as real successes because I want him to always tell me he needs to go. He has quite a few times, but it's not consistent. I have to really watch him and keep my eyes open constantly for the signs he gives of needing to go....because if he's enthralled with something fun he's doing, he will deny that he has to go even though he's holding himself and jumping around! So I just want to be clear that even though we've had an accident-free day and he's kept the same underwear on all day, we are far from out of the woods on this one. He's been so cute to watch in his big-boy underwear....at one point yesterday he was wearing just his Thomas the Train undies and a cowboy hat. Wish I had taken pictures!

I don't know why, but I hadn't stopped to think about how sad this was going to be. I'm still not thinking about it yet. I want to just get through the training part and help him to be successful in this area, but I know that as soon as he masters this skill, I'm probably going to have a meltdown of some sort. I keep pushing it back, not wanting to think about how sad I am that my baby is not really a baby anymore. I can tell that it's going to come though. I'm not ready for the emotion. Consider this a warning....if you come into contact with me during the next few weeks, be prepared that I may be on the verge of being a total crazy person. But like I said, I don't want to think about that right now. Just praying that God will pour out His grace for that moment, when it comes!

Just in case anyone wonders what "training strategy" we have used, I thought I would share some of the details because I LOVE hearing the details of different parenting things people do. There are so many great ways to do it, and every child's needs are different, so this may not be helpful to others who will be potty training their child in the future. But I appreciated hearing and reading others' stories and advice, so here it is. Maybe it will be helpful for someone. And if you don't want to hear about little boys going to the potty, then you may want to just skip the rest of this post and join me on the next one!

• We mainly used the strategy set forth in the book Pottywise....yes, it's written by the same people as the Babywise books. You pick the day to start, and on that day, you automatically put them in big-kid undies and start the process. We set the timer for 15 minutes and when the timer wentt off, we checked to see if his underwear is clean and dry. If so, he got to pick a prize from a bowl of little toys I got him. As soon as we checked for dryness, I took him to the potty. If he did something in the potty, he also got a treat, but it was something smaller, like a few M&Ms. You do this repeatedly throughout the day. The main point in Pottywise that makes it so successful is that they stress the importance of rewarding keeping their underwear clean and dry over rewarding the actual use of the potty. It's so logical and is what seems to make all the difference, because lots of kids will have a half-accident, messing up their underwear, but still making it to the potty to do a little in there, and we reward what they do in the potty. So we have to make a much bigger deal over being clean and dry when the timer goes off. So that's what we did. And we stretched out the increments to 20 and 25 minutes later on that first day. I really only did the timer the first day. By the second morning, it was a more familiar process, and he went in the potty as soon as he got up and really never needed the extra motivation of the toy-prizes from that point on. He still asks for candy sometimes, but we don't even give that every time anymore.
  
• I love these strategies that avoid being in pull-ups during the day. I think it is necessary for them to learn how uncomfortable it is to pee in their underwear. So he only wears pull-ups at nap and bedtime. We are diaper-free now! And I've kept pants off of him during the day, just to make it easier. He's only worn shorts for the first time today (on the afternoon of the third day), and I really recommend that. You have to expect that there are going to be LOTS of messes that first day especially. You just have to be ready to clean lots of puddles, spray carpet, etc. It's a necessary part of the learning process. Jonah had more in the afternoon of the first day than he had in the morning, and I wish he'd had more accidents right from the start. It may have actually sped up the process. Make sense? I'm a huge fan of doing underwear only instead of switching back and forth between that and pull-ups. They really can't feel enough discomfort from messing in a pull-up....it's too similar to a diaper.
  
• We "talked up" potty-training for about two weeks before starting, saying things like, "In another week, you'll wear big-boy underwear, pee-pee in the potty, and not wear diapers again. You'll be so big!" It doesn't matter if he understands. He just needs to hear it a lot. The weekend before, he picked out some big-boy underwear at the store, and the night before we started, he got to see all the prizes. That got him really excited! Though I must say, if your child is used to getting lots of toys and things bought for him all the time, then I don't know what kind of prize/rewards system of motivation you can do. I'd probably just lay low on spoiling him with stuff before starting potty training.....with sweets too, because you want those to be a big draw those first couple of days.
  
• I think the most important thing in determining when to start is whether or not your child is a compliant child at all.If you haven't tackled other challenges having to do with their behavior and haven't seen much success with discipline strategies that you implement, then don't expect potty training to go well at all! You want them to be at a place where they trust you, are obedient (as obedient as a strong-willed toddler can be!), and want to please you.
  

So these are some of the things that have REALLY helped us this week. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow is really different and we have tons of challenges and accidents. It can definitely happen, and I want to be prepared for that. We're definitely not done! But these are the things that have worked out well so far and that I know we will be glad we did, regardless of how long it takes us to get this whole potty thing down for good. By the way, it's highly entertaining to potty-train a boy. I can't even write about all of the funny things, it would probably be mildly inappropriate.....but to those of you who will be potty-training a son in the near future, just know that you can call me and we'll share those ridiculous stories and I'll laugh with you about it. Because this process sure can be funny!!! Maybe one of the funniest things I've EVER been a part of. I'm so thankful for the laughs this week. Thanks to those of you who I know have prayed for us this week! I'm so glad God cares about potty-training.

Happy Potty Day

Well, I'd call our first day of potty camp a success. I think. We had several victories and several accidents. Jonah is working real hard to be a big boy, I can tell. I think we're getting there. More updates to come as we march on! In the meantime, keep us in your prayers!

More Museum Fun

Last Friday, my aunt Jan came from Lufkin, bringing three of her grandkids - Alex, Hunter, and Kate - and we met them at the Discovery Science Place for some afternoon fun. They are some of the sweetest kids. One of the large rooms at this kids museum is full of imaginative play stations....pretend hospitals, veterinary clinics, banks, grocery stores, etc., so the kids acted out all sorts of roles. They were cute! Of course, in that room, Jonah decided to play with the one thing there that he already has at home - puzzles. Go figure. And we couldn't get him to look at the camera in any pictures. Oh well. Jan, you've got those kids trained to pose and take pictures well - you need to teach me!!!



This week has been going really well. As a follow-up to my last post about our intensifying training/disciplining techniques this week, Jonah has had a great week. MUCH more pleasant and obedient and whole lot less whiny. THANK YOU, LORD. He had a couple of typical two-year-old incidents....not done out of rebellion, just curiosity. It's those kinds of things I can't really punish him for, because truthfully I've never told him not to do this stuff. I guess I just assumed he would know that this is unacceptable:

Note to anyone who cares: Never make assumptions. And never leave your two-year-old son unattended for five minutes with a purse nearby that contains writing instruments. My mom gave me some great advice about using natural consequences for this one, and I know now that he knows it's not a good idea to write on himself....or the furniture. Yes, my living room chair has a new look to it. My little artist decided to draw some new designs on it, similar to the ones covering his appendages. Only bigger.

Also. Never leave your two-year-old son unattended for two minutes in the same room as a box of Kleenex. I walked into the living room this morning to find that he had emptied an entire box of Kleenexes and torn them to pieces - LITTLE pieces - and scattered them all over the room. It was a mess. His explanation? He had been playing with his zoo animals, and he told me they got cold and needed "blankies." He had covered each animal with a Kleenex. Maybe I should be proud of his resourcefulness? I don't know. But this kid's imagination is blowing me away.

Other than picking up a whole lot of messes, we're having lots of fun. I just love this age that Jonah is. I have liked all the others too, but it just keeps getting better. It really does. This is so FUN! Remind me of that next week if I sound like I'm about to kill myself over potty-training. Only four more days until the nightmare begins. =)