The Beginning of Something New!

Sorry I haven't posted in a very long time. What with all the recent developments, I'm sure you understand!

I'm sure all of my few followers already know that we are expecting baby #2. But this time, we're having a girl. Not sure how this will affect the title of 'Biddle Brilliance' yet. But we'll work it out when she gets here. But it may be a moot point, considering I probably won't have time to blog anyway! Unless I can multitask while breast feeding or something clever like that.

I'll share these 2 kind of short stories really quickly to reveal how we found out we were having a girl, in case anyone would like to steal these lovely ideas that I so aptly stole myself!

We were scheduled to have our first trimester screening (13 weeks) and the sonogram tech said she was pretty certain she knew what 'it' was. I asked her to write it down and seal it in an envelope and not to tell me! The next day I went to one of those party stores with the sealed envelope and gave it to the balloon gal along with a rather large box. I explained to her that after I leave the store she should open the envelope to see the what the verdict was and then fill the box with either pink OR blue balloons, which ever was appropriate. I picked up the sealed box 30 minutes later and made arrangements for our photographer neighbor to join me and the family at our neighborhood park to take some shots of our actual reaction to the news! We were delighted to see pink!!!

We didn't share with the family at that point what we believed 'it' to be since we were only 13 weeks and there is a large margin for error at that point. So we waited until our 22 week appointment and had another plan for that visit, you know, in case the results were different. We still wanted to have a neat story to share with the baby one day. So I bought two bags, two onesies (one pink and one blue), and labeled one bag 'Better luck next time!' and the other was 'Congratulations, IT'S A...'

We told that sonogram tech to again not tell us, but once she figured it out...to go in a separate room with the goods and fill the 'Congratulations, IT'S A...' bag with the correct colored onesie. We had already trained Jaxen that if he opened the bag and it was pink that it'd be a girl and the blue would be a boy. So he was going to be our 'big news' opener! We got home after the appointment, grabbed the camera, and had Jaxen open the bag. We were thrilled to see that the onesie was still pink (doubly confirming GIRL) but Jaxen wasn't AS thrilled. He rubbed his hands together in concern asking 'Where's the boy one?' Haha. Loved it, and so glad that we got it on video! See the video here: Jaxen on Facebook.

So far we are 24 weeks...so we're a little over half way already! She's growing healthy and strong and mommy is growing huge and sluggish. I guess that's the way it goes! But, knock on wood, no stretch marks! And after glancing at some of the 'Awesome Pregnancy Bellies' as dubbed by babycenter.com....I think mine ranks up there in the top 10 compared to some of the ones I saw on there!

Little baby girl will be named (drumroll please - mainly for those of you who don't know)...Sela Christine. Brewer is a given! Hah

She's not as active in the belly as Jaxen was (yet) but she does give some punches and kicks. And I love to see Jaxen's face light up when he gets to feel it. He's only been able to feel it 2 or 3 times, but he gets so excited. As a matter of fact, this morning he said (after feeling a kick) 'I'm so excited about baby Sela!' Now, if that doesn't make your day, I don't know what will.

My dear hubby has been working diligently on getting baby Sela's room completed so I can do the fun decorating stuff by the time she arrives. Lots to still be done, but he's on the scene! UNFORTUNATELY, our baby doctor said I can not help paint. As a matter of fact he said have your husband close the door and you stay away! So I was so happy...I mean, SAD, yes sad to tell Jeff that I wouldn't be able to help paint the room. But I'm sure he'll do an excellent job without me....just not as fast! But she'll have a brand new room when she gets here and lots of hugs and kisses on back order.

In other news, Jaxen most recently turned the BIG 3! He had a great time celebrating with some of his like-sized friends and neighbors and hosing the poor dog down with the water hose the whole time. Don't get me wrong, Skamper LOVED it. And when the kiddos weren't hosing him down, he'd just sit there and stare at the nozzle waiting for someone to pick it up! Jaxen adored his 'Cars' cake and wanted to hold Lightning McQueen from off the cake right away. I told him we'd have to leave it on the cake so his friends could see, and he said 'I don't want my friends to see!' Gotta love this kiddo.

Well, I think I've shared all of our exciting news as of late.

Keep us in your prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby (& mommy).

Mission Accomplished!

Oh yeah, uh huh, we did it, you're jealous! Jaxen is completely, yes, 100% potty trained! It's quite an accomplishment, if I may say so myself. Now that I know what I know....I don't wish potty training on my worst enemy...but it's so glorious when you are done.

We followed the '3 Day Potty Training Method' book sent to me by my good friend Janet. Yeah, it was brutal. 3 days of Potty Training lock down! Every 3 seconds repeating 'Be sure to tell Mommy if you have to go potty.' It gets real old....fast. Especially since you are watching the little one like a hawk to make sure to catch all accidents. BRUTAL, I tell you! By the end of the 3 days...it was meltdown time. But after a brief psychotic break...I was back on it the next day. However, the next day was Sunday...which meant Jaxen had to actually leave the house...and go to church...in underwear! Pause for the feeling of dread to creep up on you.

I was really nervous since he kind of 'got it' but still chose to refrain from telling me EVERY time he had to pee. But to my surprise...he did fantastic at church. Of course I sat in his class with him and was a complete and total distraction and the constant nagging about telling me if he had to pee didn't help. But still...it was a success.

Unfortunately potty training...no matter how well it's going with the #1s...#2 is brutal when constipation has always been a factor since birth. So we paid Dr. West a visit and was told to 'clean him out.' A good ol' dose of Milk of Magnesia and then a daily dose of Miralax is sure to get things rolling. And boy did it. After one bout of the 'comeback' it would've been almost easier to pack up and move than to clean up. But...we did it. We survived. And now our little fella is getting regular as clockwork and has FINALLY figured out that #2 doesn't go in our underwear. Victory is ours!

So I thought I'd brag to all my peeps that I managed to train another human being to put onesies and twosies in their rightful place. If you are saying to yourself right now, 'Big Deal...', then you my friend have not potty trained a toddler!! Those who have...know how hard it is and what a relief it is when you are done!

And yes, he is potty trained through naps and night time too. Word to your mother!

Yeah, we're at it again...

So...potty training. Yeah, it sounds great....once you're done. But to start the endeavor and follow through, well, it might as well be Mission: Impossible!

Now let me just say I haven't tried THAT hard. We've dabbled here and there because, frankly my dear, Jaxen just is NOT interested. You could say he IS interested if screaming at the top of his lungs when the word potty is mentioned indicated so.

Well this past Saturday I decided to let him run around the house with no diaper or bottoms on, you know, to see if he'd tell me he had to pee or pooooo. We only did this for a couple of hours and we were 1 for 3. 1 stream landed in the potty...the other 2 landed on our carpet. NOTE: This should incentivize my husband to put us some hard surface floors down...hint, hint!!

So I considered Saturday a partial success....he did SIT on the potty after all. Busy busy days followed Saturday and now here we are on Thursday and I didn't have anywhere to go today...so I thought I'd give it another whirl. The no diaper thing.

Success!!! Success??? Wait, I'm not sure yet.

This morning we changed him out of his realllllly wet overnight diaper. So clearly overnight is NOT an option right now! Then I let him run boundless and free around the house with no diapy and no undies. Doing pretty good. The first pee made it's way into the potty that I thought to bring into the living room. **GENIUS!!**

It seemed to work pretty good since he didn't feel like he was leaving all his toys to go potty. Jaxen did seem a lot more apt to sit on it when prompted to.

The second pee...not as lucky. Dern carpet!!! But the good news was that he knew he wasn't supposed to just let it fly on the floor because he immediately started screaming and crying. So we cleaned that up. No biggie, right?

Third and forth pee of the day (this kiddo pees a lot)...made it in the potty! Yay!!! Then comes the not so attractive part of our day. The dreaded twosie. The ol' #2. El pooperino. Yes, it reared it's ugly head.

I had been on Jaxen about sitting on the potty all day. So I was certain he was fine for 3 minutes. BIG MISTAKE!! I had literally JUST sat him on the potty moments ago. Nothing happened. So he was in his room playing as I threw a load of clothes in the wash. Foolish foolish girl. Next thing I know....I hear screaming. The 'Uh oh' type screaming. He came running to me to have me investigate the scene of the crime.

I run into this bedroom fearing that he'd peed on all his toys or worse....on Doggie Dog. But no. I noticed as he was running back to his room to show me the dreaded 'accident'....he had a smidge of yuckity yuck on the back of his calf. I was like, huh?? And then...OH NO set in.

I go into his room and see the tiniest little piece of dookerino on the floor. He's regularly constipated so I figured that was it. Not too bad for our first misplaced #2. Mind you, his room had every toy known to man all over the place, cleverly used as a disguise! I run him to the potty and clean him up. SIt him on the potty...thinking more was to come. I run back into the room to clean up the itsy bitsy poople....and then I see it. Oh no, it can't be. Oh yes it is.

A turd. And not a Biddle sized one. A full grown man, I haven't twosied in weeks, sized one. I was like...WOAH!!! And where was it?? No, not in the bed, phew!! But it was on the blanket he sleeps with...oh and yeah, partially on the carpet. I couldn't believe it. I ran to the bathroom and got MORE TP and began cleaning.

Needless to say Jaxen's room needed an airing out and some scented candles.

I got to say, Lesson Learned! Don't leave a most of the time constipated kid alone with no diaper on, in his bedroom surrounded by toys, and try to do laundry. What was I thinking?

On a high note, he did tinkle one or two more times (in the potty) before nap time...but I'd definitely say that the Dookey Bandit was the highlight of my day. Did I say highlight? Maybe I should say....most 'interesting' part.

Good luck to all you parents trying to potty train. I feel ya!!!