I'm so ready!!

I like our pediatrician and as we agree on basically everything, I want to trust his advice soooo badly. But I'm about to pull my hair out. I want Aiden to be potty trained. I want him to just act like it's something he's even somewhat interested in. I want him to decide that he wants to be a big boy and not wear diapers anymore. Does it look like any of this is even close to happening? No.

When the boys had their checkups last month, we spent some time discussing potty training. I was feeling like Aiden was getting on the old side, seeing as he had just turned three and seemed to have no interest, but the pediatrician assured me that he was still well within the normal age range. He told me that I basically needed to act like I didn't care if Aiden's potty trained or not, because Aiden would sense ANY little bit of urgency over it on my part and would resist. I'm trying so hard to act like it's no big deal, but I'm really tired of fighting with him over diaper changes. Every time he fights me, I remind him that if he doesn't want diapers anymore, he needs to put it in the potty instead.

I agree with the pediatrician that he won't be in diapers forever, but I think I need to change our game plan. Last night was the last little bit of diaper fighting that I could take. We're going to jump start this potty training TODAY.

There will be many updates to come.

Aiden's Election Reaction

During dinner, I left the TV on so that I could hear the election updates while we ate. John was working late, so it was just the boys and I. Now, I make it no secret that I voted for McCain this election, but I was fully aware that Obama had a very strong following. As we were eating, they pretty much called the election for Obama. I wasn't surprised, but must have had a somewhat disappointed look on my face because Aiden looked at me and said, "Mommy, are you sad?". I smiled and said, "Just a little bit.". He looks hard at me for a moment and then says, "Maybe it was an accident. Accidents happen. You'll know what to do.". Oh, the words of wisdom from a three year old! :^)

Even though I know they won't remember any of it, I kept the boys up later than usual so that we could all watch McCain's and Obama's speeches. And even though my candidate didn't win, I am still in awe that I am able to witness such an historic event in our nation's history. What an amazing thing to see. I listened intently to Obama's speech and I am interested to see what he can for our country as President.

So, to all of my readers who helped Obama make his way to the Presidency, congrats. I am happy for the election to be over, as it was beginning to feel almost painfully long! Now, I'm off to bed to wonder what the next four years will bring (hopefully good things!). Good night all!

Breastfeeding and today's culture

This is a bit of a small vent, even though it's something that doesn't actually apply to my current situation.

For a bit of a backstory, John and I are on opposite ends of weight issues. He's trying to lose, I'm trying to gain. So for some support and ideas on how to work together without sabotaging each other, I posted on a weight issues board. In my post, I mentioned having Aiden three years ago and that I was currently breastfeeding, but forgot to mention Nathan. I was immediately flooded with responses to my weight issues post, but none of them were in response to my actual issue. They were all regarding me breastfeeding a three year old (which I'm not, but I can't blame them for jumping to that conclusion). Like I said, I was flooded with responses telling me that I was "disgusting", "gross", "a weirdo", and "to put the boob away already".

Now, I know that I'm not actually breastfeeding a three year old, but it was still a bit appalling to me. Are people so concerned with what is perceived as culturally normal that a child's nutrition goes out the window? While I personally wouldn't breastfeed a three year old, I know that there are plenty of people who do it and that is their decision. Who are we to tell them that's not ok?

I posted again as that site doesn't let you edit your initial post and explained that I actually had a 9 month old that I was breastfeeding and that my three year old had been weaned for quite some time. I restrained myself from giving them the verbal lashing I felt like typing out. If people prefer to go around being judgemental and ignorant, then I can't stop them, but I can correct them when they jump to the wrong conclusion.

And just for an idea as to how the responses to my post turned out, only three out of 25 posts were actually in response to the weight issue. For a place where I thought I could find support for my husband and I, it turned out to be a real bust. I will not be returning to that board.

Bread

Because we didn't feel as though we had enough to do (sense the sarcasm?), we took on a new project. Well, I don't think I can actually call it a project because we're intending for it to be a permanent change in our lifestyle. But it certainly requires more work on our part.

We have stopped buying bread and we are now making our own. I've always been interested in getting a bread machine, but I don't really like the way it bakes the bread. So we bought one at Goodwill (and amazingly, it works GREAT!) and are using it for the mixing and kneading cycles only. This does take a lot of the work out of making our own bread, as we can just throw all the ingredients in and let it go until it's done rising and it comes time to stick it in the oven. So far, we have done French, white and rye bread. We are looking for reasonably priced wheat flour, so if you know where I could get some, I'm open to suggestions.

Why are we doing this? Well, as a family we go through at least two loaves a week. And if we want decent tasting bread, it's costing us $4-$5 per loaf. I was a little surprised to realize that we were spending around $40 a month on bread alone. So we decided we'd make the initial investment of the bread machine ($8 at Goodwill) and then with the cost of ingredients for each loaf....well, we're saving about $25 a month. Which doesn't seem like ALL that much to begin with, but it's $300 a year that we can use on other things. Plus, homemade bread is just really yummy! I did have a little bit of fun and took a trip to Target to purchase some more baking items (a few loaf pans, pyrex measuring cups instead of my plastic ones that are just about to crack all the way through, things like that).

So that's our new thing and it feels really great to find unique ways to save a little money. And who knows? The homemade stuff just might be a little healthier than store bought!