potty training.

so potty training has been fairly successful. i mean, i've never done this before so i really don't know how our progress measures against where it "should" be 3 days in, but it seems like it's been successful so far. we have had about 5-6 accidents total since friday night, and none at home since naptime yesterday. this post probably won't be all that interesting but i wanted to document what we have done so far since [i guess] we will eventually have to do this again when hunter is old enough. i'm holding out hope hunter will potty train himself. he is gifted like that.

so first we scheduled "potty training weekend" on our calendar once we agreed we thought bennett was ready. as it got closer i kept hoping joe would bail us out by saying we should wait, but no such luck. potty training was on.

friday when the boys got up from nap we headed to target for our potty training supplies. $85 later (seriously) we were fully equipped. and we already had a little potty. we armed ourselves with: several packs of undies that bennett picked out (think: dusty crophopper and lightning mcqueen), pull-ups, a potty seat to go on the big potty, juice, peanut butter m&m's, and carpet cleaner.

we planned to start saturday morning but when we got home from target on friday night bennett was so excited about his undies we figured there was no time like the present. we said "let's try on our undies and try going on the potty!" he waltzed right up there and peed on the potty. i literally almost had a stroke. i had prepared myself for many unsuccessful attempts before he ever actually went. (typical of me to expect the worst. ughh, lay off, i'm working on it.) we celebrated with hugs, cheers, high fives, and of course a round of peanut butter m&m's (mom and dad deserve chocolate too, right?).

friday night bennett went probably 6 times on the potty and didn't have a single accident. we put a diaper on him at night (we will tackle nighttime/naptime after we get daytime down). saturday we had some accidents but bennett definitely was upset by them- he wanted us to clean them up right away and get new undies on. he pooped in his undies, too- poop training is harder because you have so many fewer times to practice!

sunday we had a rough morning with some accidents and what can now be referred to as "the poop showdown" where we basically confined bennett to the bathroom because we knew he needed to go but wouldn't. eventually (over an hour later) the packer game was starting so we caved and let him out, but said he had to be naked from the waist down. i figured we had no chance of him going in the potty if he had the opportunity to go in his undies. we made it to naptime without an accident and i was pleasantly surprised when he didn't go in his pull-up during his nap.

we decided to stick with the naked thing when we are at home (i read a lot and many people say this is the best method to potty train) and we didn't have anymore accidents the rest of the day sunday. we caught him trying to poop and made it to the potty just in time! not quite pooping on the potty but i call it a win. also we took a family trip to target with bennett in undies. he sat on the potty there but didn't go- but no accidents and made it home still dry!

today he got up and peed right away on the potty and we had a good morning accident-free. bennett even told me he needed to go potty multiple times on his own without a reminder! hunter had his 6 month well visit this morning so we ventured out in undies again. we went to the potty at the doctor's office multiple times but he didn't want to sit on the big potty and inevitably had an accident. we put a pull-up on and he kept that dry until he went on the potty when we got home. 

so that's that. potty training success so far. hoping we continue making strides!

remember me?

it's been a while! life is busy and time has just gotten away from me. a lot of things to update so here we go!

work is busy for joe- a good thing! he's got a lot of things in the works and has made some good progress with some "big fish" in his territory as of late. he's had a couple business trips so far this fall and has a couple more planned in october/november. assuming things continue to go as they have been, joe is on target to sell over a million dollars this year, which is a big accomplishment and will result in an award at wright's national sales meeting in february and a commission raise for next year. so proud of him!

joe and i spent labor day weekend in chicago to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. it was weird to be away from the boys for nearly 5 days but it was super relaxing and a lot of fun. the boys did great with my mom and dad at the lake in wisconsin. although i will say my parents were probably ready for more quiet and less bubble guppies by the end!

helping papa mow the lawn!

bath time with mimi

bennett started going to his old daycare with miss becky on mondays this fall and is loving it (and so is mama!). they walk to the library for story time, do lots of activities outside, and have sharing time. bennett is loving learning about moses in the BSF kids program on thursday mornings and being in the tiger room every other wednesday while i'm in MOPS.

also this weekend we started working on potty training with bennett.

he's doing great! he has only had a handful of accidents and we have been super proud of him. the funniest part of the weekend was when bennett called mimi to tell her he went on the potty. he ended up saying, "mimi! watch this!" and then proceeded to pee on the potty on facetime with my mom. silly goose.

hunter is 6 months old today!

i just can't get over it. he is such a joy- always happy and smiling. he puts himself to sleep and takes great naps. we are still waking up a couple times a night to eat, but i'm hoping that will resolve itself soon. if not, we will have to think about crying it out... not yet though. he had his first solid food today (besides rice cereal/oatmeal)- avocado! he LOVED it and ate 1/4 of a mashed avocado then cried for more!

bennett hated avocado but hunter couldn't get enough. he's still taking zantac for his reflux and doing great.

as for me, i'm involved in BSF and MOPS and really enjoying those activities. i am still working at this weight loss thing- down over 25 lbs to date :) i haven't been able to work out quite as frequently as i had been now that summer is over and we are busier during the week but i'm getting to the gym about 4x a week.

also, i was recently contacted by an old boss from family innovations who has since left to be the treatment director at minnesota teen challenge. he asked if i would be interested in doing some work for them from home in credentialing and contracting (essentially exactly what i did at family innovations). so i accepted a contracted position as credentialing lead and will be working 10-15 hours a week from home! it's a great opportunity for me to make some extra money but still be able to be with my boys full time. i'm excited and grateful for the opportunity!

that's the latest in the wienke world! i'll try to be better about posting more regularly!