the joys of potty training

oh the wonderful joys of teaching your child how to not soil themselves. its a hypocritical task really. on one hand you spend so much time, effort, excited/high pitched "yay! good boy you poopied in the big boy toilet", etc. and on the other hand.. well i'll mention that in a second. lets face it. potty training is a CHORE!!! having a boy to potty train is a blessing and a curse as well. example: they can pee standing up... which for the germaphobe such as myself means that when you go into a public restroom they dont have to touch anything (& if you have me as a mama- you just lift your kid up- aim- and shoot. real easy). However, what is a curse about a boy is the fact that it seems to take a lot longer for them to figure out that its really not that cool to piss your pants at night. Wake up and use the loo already!! it does not matter if the kid doesn't drink water all day, goes tinkle right before bed- he will always wake up with a wet pull up. or worse, soak right through. ugh- nothing starts my day off worse then waking up and having to change some sheets.
so here's the other hand... spending the time to get your kid to the bathroom at those oh so inconvenient times (when having them do it in their pull up would have been so much easier but also would be ruining all of your hard work). here is an example of this: we drive A LOT. being in PA and daddy being in Seattle means mama's butt is getting flatter from all of the sitting she does (me being mama of course). so what does one do when there is no bathroom for an 1 hour drive and mason "has to go potty?" well this answer is simple. pull the car over on the side of the road and let the boy stand, point, and water the grass of course. and then explain to him that this is a "special" circumstance and that he needs to use the toilet except for "special" circumstances such as this. the not so simple answer is when your kid says "mama, i have to go poopy". Shit. (pun intended). what to do, what to do. well you find the only deserted looking street you can off the side of the road and then you learn how to let your son poop like they did in the ol days. outside. now there's a system to it i've learned (since this has now happened twice, dont worry-with each time it gets easier). you pull over and park your car at an angle so that when you open the door, the driver coming from your direction, and the opposite cant see what embarassment is taking place. then, remove the pants (trust me on this one) thing spray (meaning poopy is usally accompanied by a little potty). then you face your child and hold their hands, while directing them to trust you and tell them to "sit like you're sitting in a chair". then proceed with "ok honey, go poopy". and it might take a few attempts for the whole "chair" concept. then back yourself away cause things spray.... next you best be carrying some wet wipes or napkins or something. if you are a wise mama you will. then you leave that shit. literally. then you high tail it outta there before any bears come (i've heard they have a "scent" for that kind of stuff). and finally you have a long talk with you child that goes something like this:
mommy: "mason, now you know that we don't go poopy outside right? only if its an emergency and there are NO toilets around right?"
mason: "right mommy, only if its emergency"
mommy: "thats right, so if you are at school or something you need to use the toilet, you don'g go poopy or potty outside, right?"
mason: "right mommy only poopy or potty outside if its a special day out"
mommy: "uhhhh, yeah not really if its a special day mason just if you really have to go poopy and there is no toilet and mommy says you can go outside ok?"
mason: "right mommy"

whats bad is when this happens the second time and your kid finishes up and he looks at you and recites everything you told him the first time. or actually it makes you kind of proud.

so there you have it. if you are a mom of a potty training toddler... just my take on how to properly take your kid "poopy" on the side of the road. you can thank me later.

favorites according to mason

in order to capture these memories i have started "interviewing" mason. i love looking back and seeing what he was into or what his favorite foods were. i have been so busy wrapped up in everything dental hygiene that i need to pause and make sure to capture the "moments"
so, a few of mason's favorite things....

• his junk. that's right. typical boy. constant reminder that "pee pee time" should not be done in public (still new to this whole boy concept so any words of wisdom is appreciated)
• LOVES him some movies. in particular Cars 2, Bugs Life, and all Toy Stories. Either he watches these A LOT (i will admit, he kind of does) or this kid has an amazing memory. can pretty much recite the whole movie (on all of them)
• obsessed with hot chocolate and "special milk" aka choc milk
• loves "chicken pot pie" and broccoli and burritos
• our nightly rituals consist of: bath, teeth brushing, prayer (we alternate who says it), a story, and at least 3 songs. Sometimes books are swapped out for the story
• LOVES the monkey bars
• puzzles
• singing his own made up songs (which is pretty adorable)
• writing his name as well as the alphabet and he is learning numbers (pretty smart lil man)
• and... shaking his "booty" yup especially when we go out to dinner
• only wants to wear shirts w/ animals or figurines on them (seriously this is a fight some mornings when getting ready for school... so much for only having that problem w/ girls)

love this kid with all our hearts.... can not believe he is almost 4!!!!!

oh and add to the list the fact that he has to go to bed with about 50 "snuggles" all tucked in

"snow week"

we had ourselves a little vacay this week. right here in our very own PA. not necessarily by choice since we were literally "snowed in" (thanks to my rear wheel drive). in total we got about 14 inches of snow. mason had a blast! i heard every 2 min "can we go outside?" "when can we go outside?" as much as i loved having some time with my lil man it made it virtually impossible to get any school work done. to say im a little behind after having a week off is an understatement.
we played in the snow, drank hot chocolate, played in the snow, made multiple attempts to make a snowman but the snow was too dry, drank more hot chocolate, walked down to the bottom of our giant hill twice to Rite Aid- once for a sled and the other for wine & milk (the essentials of course), and then last night we had ourselves a sledding adventure with the Zimmels on the golf course accross the street at 9:30 p.m. Funnest night ever! (and of course i did not bring my camera!) mason was quite the dare devil (even showing up our friend Steph!)
today the snow is starting to melt and jeff is on his way into town... and all i have to say is its been real, and its been fun... but GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW did i mention that i have now officially watched Cars II & Bugs Life 8 times each in the span of 4 days? help me

finally december recap

better late than never... and hey we've been busy. here's a little recap of our december... we had an amazing Christmas- the best yet. i love that mason was so into it and so into Santa and his reindeer. he also kindof understood that Christmas is really about Jesus's birthday (well kindof understood). we spent Christmas eve at the Kossert's (which we do every year-love tradition) and Christmas morn was spent waking up with Jeff, myself and mason followed by an all day feast at the Belfiore's with Jeff's family and the Overfields. Was a magical time... can't wait until next year. and neither can Mase

and that was our Christmas in a nutshell!! excuse the late post and all the pics.. there were actually a million more pics that werent posted! speaking of pictures, i realized i need to be alot better at including everyone who is so special in our lives and i will really try to be better at that! thank you again to everyone for all of the amazing gifts and for the wonderful holidays spent together!!

Pictures by Amy Ellis

During Christmas break my sister Carey's sis in law (her hubby's sister) took some pics of Mason. She is just starting out, although after I saw the pics she took you would never know. She is AMAZING! A total natural with kids too. (why is it that kids listen to everyone BUT the parents sometimes? annoying) anyways, here are a few pics she took... I accidentally made a few cameos, but ideally they were all of mase...

Thank you Amy!! for anyone interested contact me and I will give you her info... or you can go onto fb at amy ellis photography

"Tebowing"

before bathtime

november

a time of thanks... thankful to almost have been done with the hardest quarter in dh... and so extrememly thankful for family, friends, mason, good food... sadly i didn't take any thanksgiving pics... or any pics for that matter!! tragic i know!

October

What a fun month!! Mason chose to be BuzzLightyear for Halloween and Jeff & I took him trick or treating in Lakeland hills... he LOVED it! he was so cute and so excited running from house to house (except for when we stopped by the "po-po's" house- aka cop... thanks daddy)... we picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin farm in Port Angeles.. I had high hopes of letting him actually carve the pumpkin this year but settled for painting instead.

the one pic i have of mase at the pumpkin patch.. i need to get some pics from jeff- i don't even have one of him dressed up in his costume!

 Port Angeles Crab Festival

sydelle and cash at the crab festival

maddy, grandpa, and mason chowin down

september... doing the puyallup

mason getting ready for some mutton bustin

all ready to go!

the mutton ... lol mason lasted all but 2 seconds... it was hysterical! see the sheep in the background? thats what the kids actually ride! its like 8 seconds for kids

corn doggy dogg with daddy

riding some rides with cousin piper

love his face here!

a little of this and a little of that....

since i have been eating, sleeping, and breathing hygiene school this poor little blog has been so neglected... and so have my photo ops with mason. here are a few pics of our life since (yikes- August!!)... don't judge..

hanging with auntie leslie

taking "mommy" (his doggy) for a walk

special treat
 

swim day at grandmas pool

 

the artman clan